


AntiBender Revolution

by Silverbulletsdeath



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Anti-bending revolution, Assassin - Freeform, Bigotry & Prejudice, Coffee, Contemplated suicide, Disability, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Sexual Relationship, Twins, Violence, air benders, nonbender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-02-17 07:27:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 123,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2301407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverbulletsdeath/pseuds/Silverbulletsdeath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The arrival of the Avatar in Republic City is both a cause for excitement and fear for Aita. As Amon's Spirit, Aita finds herself torn between her beliefs and love for her twin brother who is a bender.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This was an idea that came while watching the third episode of the first season. So everything after The Revelation is Au though I’ll make as many nods to the actual show as possible. This follows around what is essentially an OC, but she’s a reincarnated (shut up, other people besides the avatar get reincarnated, at least in my fic) version of a character from Avatar the Last Airbender. Revision: Since this got a little more attention than I thought it would, I thought I would give this a little bit of polishing (more like sandpaper or hammering). It’s not perfect, but drop me a note if you want me to do this to the other chapters, I really appreciate all the positive feedback I got on this little project. Also think of it as “sorry” for dropping this for so long. Hopefully I’ll finish the fic before I go back to school.

Aita hated Mondays.  Their stepfather was always more volatile on Mondays.  This one had started out alright. Her stepfather had already headed to work before she woke.  The shop had been quiet, and when Aita had gone to the park during her break she’d found something that caught her eye and made hope well in her chest.  She had stopped for a few minutes to listen to a man speak about equality with enough conviction and grace to catch her attention.  He talked about a vision of a world where benders and nonbenders were equals.  No, better still, a world without benders.  Aita wondered how that was possible. He hadn’t given specifics on how the man on his poster would accomplish this goal, but Aita, only thirteen years old, already had her own share of disagreements with benders.  She couldn’t get away from them if she wanted to, especially since her mother was a water bender, her stepfather a fire bender, her five half siblings a mix if those two types and her twin brother a…

Aita sighed and winced.  She needed to somehow teach her brother how to make his bending look like firebending.  Their stepfather was already itchy about the fact Aita and her brother weren’t his.  Spirits, he’d gone into such a rage over imagined slights at dinner that Aita hadn’t been able to keep her brother safe.  No, what the man in the park had been shouting was a pipe dream; it was probably why the metalbenders hadn’t cuffed him for trying to incite a riot.  To them, what he had been saying had probably sounded like madness. 

“Stop moving sis,” rasped Sota as if he heard her thinking about him.  Aita hated how his breaths were now so uneven and strained.  He sighed and drew her into a hug.  Aita scrunched her nose in annoyance, but her brother just hugged her closer.  Since they were twins, their parents thought that they should ‘naturally’ bunk together.  Seeing as her family a struggled under the weight of six children and only four rooms to their apartment, Aita’s and Sota’s sleeping arrangements made sense.  Still, Aita would have been just as happy for a more traditional setup where they slept on mats on the floor, at least then she would have her own blanket.  The bedroom would still be crowded, but she wouldn’t be sleeping pressed next to her cuddling twin when her side was on fire from pain. 

Sleep came in small spells that jolted away from Aita when she started to pay too much attention to the fact that she was falling asleep or a pain started to ache anew.  Sota rasped and cough, jolting her again and again.  Aita sighed and wriggled in her grasp.  Her brother was an idiot.  He was just so nonaggressive, letting everything roll off him.  When confronted he would, at the most, try to avoid the attacker, but Aita had yet to see him fight back.  Sota would make excuses, he’d run away, or he’d try to placate, and basically he’d do everything that set their stepfathers nerves on edge, and then he’d get an even worse beating for it.

Still, his bruises were better than the burns Aita received for her tongue.  Aita had learned quick how to draw attention from her brother and that she couldn’t rely on anyone to help them, because who cared about two kids from the bad part of town?  Of course Aita and Sota would have a few scars and come into school with bruises and burns.  The gangs in their area were notorious for recruiting kids their age, better still that the twins’ stepfather was a firebender cop.  The neighbors deluded themselves into believing that because Aita and Sota were nonbenders they had to have been looking for trouble. 

Aita shuddered at the idea of challenging a bender, especially an untrained one from the school she used to attend.  Aita had seen what could happen when an untrained, volatile bender lost his temper and attacked a classmate who was a nonbender.  Usually the nonbender was the one who got scolded for provoking the bender.  Aita hated how this town catered toward its benders.  She didn’t understand why her mother loved living here.  Couldn’t they move to the South Pole?  It was supposed to be sparse of water benders, still rebuilding after the war so long before.

But Aita’s mother was a bender.  She had no reason to leave Republic City unless it was to get away from their stepfather, and Aita mother loved the abusive son of a bitch.  Aita’s stepfather had a ‘respectable’ job as one of the few firebender coppers in Republic City.  From what Aita gathered, the job paid shit, so how it was respectable was beyond Aita.  Yet, her mother had birthed enough kids for him that it was obvious she found the man desirable; however impossible that seemed.

Sota, as if sensing his sister’s tumbling thoughts, circled his arms and body completely around her and stuck there like an incredibly painful attachment.  Aita cringed and breathed heavily through her teeth for a few moments before settling back to try and sleep.  If she thought herself in circles anymore, she wouldn’t get any sleep and then wouldn’t be of any use around the store in the morning.  They ran the place themselves; it had been something their stepfather had dumped on them so they could ‘learn hard work’; which basically translated to her stepfather finding an easy way to get free money.  Aita’s brother really did have too big a heart.  Aita would have lied to their stepfather and kept some of the profits so they could run away.  Maybe then she could find a proper teacher (one who wasn’t a disappointment) for her brother to learn his bending and then find a chi blocker teacher for herself so she could defend herself properly. 

Until a week ago, her mother had supported Aita’s love acrobatics.  She had seemed to be proud of Aita for taking the classes, though the woman was probably just thinking the classes helped compensate for missing Aita’s childhood. Not that Aita could blame her mother for that.  Aita had in many ways also missed her childhood.  Now her stepfather had declared learning acrobatics a waste of money.  Aita conceded that it was.  The movements helped her concentrate, but learning acrobatics was useless in the long run.  The only tricks people thought were worth seeing were those done by benders.  It didn’t matter to them that it didn’t really take any extra concentration to bend when doing the tricks seeing as bending was just an extension of various arts of dancing, acrobatics, and fighting styles.  But somehow the added effect of snow or bursts of fire were more impressive than simply doing the trick itself.

Aita dreamed of red, of land by the salty sea, of crashing waves against a dead beach.  Rocks shot up from the ground, all plant life had recently been stripped from them and the sky burned with fire. 

The image moved fast.  The sky was splitting open and the last avatar, Aang, stood, his eyes white with power, staring at the man he held under his will on top of one of the rocks.  The avatar looked poised to kill.  Aita gasped, staring at the scene before her.  Of course, she’d seen this scene printed on one of her books at school.  It was that moment when the avatar had held the Phoenix King and, instead of killing him, had stripped him of his bending.

The king looked mad and frightened.  Then the avatar spoke.  His voice resounded with even more wisdom and ferocity than Aita had imagined, could ever have imagined. Yet, under what sounded like a thought wise and ferocious voices was the voice of a child.  One certain, yet regretful of what he had to do even as he prepared himself for the inevitable. 

Then the avatar struck, and Aita found herself screaming as she learned, felt, lost all the power and skills of a fully trained firebender.  She then fell far into the mind of someone with power that spoke of ages, which reflected eons of rebirths when they mastered the bending arts over and over.  She gained the knowledge of everything it meant to take the power to bend away from another human, to rip apart an essential part of a benders mind and essence. 

Aita woke up and knew how to take away the bending of another human being.

The next morning she was dragging a cart behind her filled with their latest provisions, grumbling at how her family took so much of their profit, that Aita and Sota didn’t have enough left over to purchase a proper form of transport for their products.  She preferred it when they got their wares from conventional sellers.  That way she just filled out a form and it was brought to them.  But they ran an odds and ends store, and some of their stuff had to be picked up by them for various reasons. 

Aita buckled a little under the weight of the cart and grumbled, readjusting and trying to loosen up a little.  She tied her hood more securely around her head so that it wouldn’t fall off with the wind kicking up so badly. 

“Hey there girlie.” Aita swallowed nervously and turned to look at the man coming toward her.  She gulped and shifted her grip as the man waltzed up and next to her, leering at her and making her shiver. “What you got in that cart?”

“None of your business,” snapped Aita as she tried to pass him.  A rock flew and hit her squarely between the eyes.  She fell to the side, the two wheeled cart crashing to the ground. 

“That’s not a nice way to treat your betters girlie,” said the man.  Aita felt herself shaking, fear making her quake. “Now, be a good girl and give me all your money and let me see if you’ve anything of interest under that tarp.”

Aita stared at the man and then took off the tarp from her wagon.  The man looked into the cart.  Aita watched the muscles in his neck stand out as he looked from what was revealed back to her.  Aita tried to give the man a sincere smile.  The thief sneered and spit on her. 

“What the hell are those?” he demanded.  Aita tried not to glare at him. 

“Custom made pet rocks.  All the rage with five to ten year olds,” said Aita.

“Fucking useless,” said the man, and then he turned on Aita and punched her in the jaw.  Fear grabbed Aita and she kicked, catching thief in the jewels.  The thief doubled over.  Aita shivered and kicked him in the face.  Aita’s mind seemed to go black as she seemed to instinctively follow him down where her gloved fingers dug into his eyes and against his throat.  She stood and started kicking him.  She then bent so she could beat him with her fists again, and flesh and bone broke under her fists.  Soon the fear slipped away and the repetitive pounding made her mind slip peacefully into a state similar to the one she entered while meditating. 

A groan from her victim made her pause.  She was near the man’s element.  It was all around her.  The very ground itself could have swallowed her.  It was why she had done this, why she had been so violent and continued beating him after he was down.  She looked down on him.  He was still breathing, barely.  His breaths were wet, and his face was a mess.  Aita started shaking and then grabbed her cart of rocks.  Her arms hurt, her entire body sharking, and her hands were covered in blood under the gloves.  She hurried down another back alley to where she knew one of the pipes dripped.

She had no choice.  She had to beat that man into submission or he would have killed her.  He had bending on his side, and her wares could have been used against her.   The very ground itself could have swallowed her.  Plus, she hadn’t known she could do that.  She didn’t know her own strength.  Tenzin hadn’t told her.  No one had.  Sure she knew some moves from training her brother, but she had been told that anything she learned in her dreams was rubbish, a trick to get her back.  She’d also built up some muscle from all the heavy lifting she did.  But she thought she was still weak, still just a small girl who could easily be crushed by even the nonbenders of Republic City.

“That was impressive,” hissed a slick voice from the shadows.  Aita felt her blood freeze as the water dripped from her now clean black gloves. “I thought at first you were a bender.  It was the way you moved.  But, you don’t have any powers of your own, do you girl?”

A hand touched her shoulder.  Aita hit it off and grabbed at her hood to make sure her face continued to be covered. 

“Leave me alone,” said Aita.  She turned sharply and came face to face, so to speak, with the person she’d seen on the posters, the one the man in the park had said would bring equalist to Republic City.  He was masked, tall, and clothes nondescript.  Before this he’d probably had his hood up.

“No harm meant,” he said, reaching for her face.  She hastily backed away. 

“Calm down child, I understand the need to hide your appearance,” said the man, gesturing at his mask. “I simply wanted to see the face of the girl, so small, with the ability to fight like a bender without the powers of a bender.”

“How do you know I’m not a bender?” asked Aita, taking a fighting stance. The man tutted and struck out so fast that Aita didn’t have enough time to defend herself.  He first threw her off balance and easily repositioned her to a new stance. “What is this?”

“This is one of the stances for those who practice chi blocking,” said the man.  Aita gasped.

“You know how to block chi?” she asked shakily.  The man chuckled and let go of her arm. 

“Yes,” he said.  Aita felt her heart grow with hope, but then she shrank back and looked at the ground in shame.  There was no way she could learn to chi block; her family would see it as an insult or worse.  Her father would go ballistic, and her brother would be crushed.  The masked man sighed and put a mask like his into her hand.  She looked up in shock. “I, of all people, know why you have to hide your identity.  If you want to learn how to fight the benders and help make this world a more equal place, then you are welcome to come to our classes.”

Aita gripped the mask close to her.  She hardly noticed when he left. 

When she looked up he was gone. 

She looked down on the mask and then back at her wagon.  She glared at the stupid thing, but she was supposed to take the pet rocks back to the store some time that day.  If she didn’t get back there soon her brother would start to worry.  Aita sighed.  She was never going to allow her brother to order anything ever again. 

Aita pushed the mask under her sweatshirt and tied the bottom of it tight.  She tugged subconsciously at her hood and walked back to the street.  The crowds had become thick by the time she entered the main street.  It had to be close to midday.

“Wow, scary lady coming through,” said Bolin.  Aita glared at her brother’s sort of friend as she stomped past him.  She hadn’t seen the brother’s in a while.  Her stepfather disapproved of them because they ‘dropped out of school’.  The fact her stepfather hated them made them tolerable if annoying and dangerous.  Since they had gotten involved with gangs after their parents had died. 

“Hey sis, why you wearing your jacket like that?” asked Sota. 

“The winds are blowing hard today,” said Aita.  She shed the coat, but kept her sweatshirt on, careful to keep the mask hidden.  She glanced at the brothers. “Are you here for more free stuff?”

The oldest brother, Mako, glared at her.  But Bolin just laughed.

“Still the same Aita.  Soon you’ll be able to beat me in a weight lifting contest,” said Bolin with that stupid smile of his as he watched her haul around her cart.  Aita blushed and glared at the smiling boy. 

“I keep up flexibility,” she said.

“Stop teasing my sister,” said Sota, though he looked like he was trying not to laugh.  Aita glared at him before carefully setting her cart down.  She took off the tarp and reached for the first few pet rocks and started setting them up on the shelf that Sato had cleared for her. “Those are cute.”

“I’m never letting you talk to any cute girls ever again,” said Aita under her breath.  Her brother groaned, used to listening closely to his sister’s mutters.

“She was five.  It wasn’t creepy,” said Sota with a pout.

“No, it was a waste of money,” Aita snapped and glared down at one of the stupidly painted grinning things.  Bolin chuckled and she chucked it at him.  The earthbender moved fast and the two halves of the pet rock split and hit on either side of the door.  

“Really?” asked Sota with a sigh as he vaulted over the counter to get the pieces.

“Your sister could have killed me!” said Bolin.

“A rock bender killed by a rock.  Wouldn’t that have made a pathetic headline?” said Mako with a chuckle.  Then the three went silent.  Aita paused while setting the last stone that could fit on the shelf and glanced over to where the three boys were staring out the store window.  She then turned to haul the cart back onto its wheels so she could unload the rest of the stupid things into the storeroom.  Hopefully, there would be enough room in the back to store them all. 

“You guys came to stop them, didn’t you?” asked Sota.  Aita looked behind her and out the window to see what looked like group of gangers walking away from the shop. “Would you like anything?”

“No, that’s alright.  We need to get back to work,” said Mako. 

“Catch you later Sota,” said Bolin, the doorbell chimed as they left.  Aita continued to the back room, ignoring her brother’s sighs. 

It didn’t take too long to transfer the rock pets onto the shelf Aita had cleared for it the day before.  They rock pets didn’t have too many loose pieces on them, so she didn’t have to be too careful with them.  Really, they were the most pathetic looking things she had ever seen.  Really, in theory, a child just had to pick up a rock from the road and in no time flat paint their own rock pet.  It would much cheaper and more personal, probably nicer looking too. 

Aita took off her sweatshirt and reached took the mask to look at it.  The thing was rather plain looking.  White, masculine, with big enough holes that were set a bit too far apart.  Aita sighed, setting the mask down on her lap again.  She looked around; they did have a lot of useless junk.  Aita shifted through one of their shelves and found what she was looking for almost instantly.  The holidays always brought along a certain set of curiosities and they always stocked up to properly for the intended holiday rush.  Masks were always a safe bet to stock up on through the years.  Almost every holiday called for masks in some capacity. 

Finally she dug out the one that looked closest to the one the masked man had given her.  It was simple, without too many decorations, and just about the right size to fit her.  Well, she could see out of it and it covered most of her face that was good enough for now.  If this became a permanent thing she could get a mask done custom. 

Of course, that begged the question: did she really need a mask?  Chi blockers didn’t showcase their abilities like benders but they didn’t hide either.  A bender was easily distinguishable by the clothes they wore, or by what bending powers were most prevalent in their family.  It was also, oddly enough, easy to figure out who didn’t have any bending powers because they tended to wear more nondescript, changing, or chaotic color choices then benders.  But still, if her stepfather found out that she was learning chi blocking, he would kill her. 

She also didn’t want to insult the man from earlier.  He had respected her.  He hadn’t killed her for beating the theif near death but had congratulated her.  He knew what it was like to be surrounded by benders, to be abused and pushed down because she didn’t have any bending powers. He knew what it was like to be ridiculed and thought less of because he was ‘missing’ something. He’d teach her to take her life back, to actually defend herself.  She’d have power. 

Because she had the vision of how to take bending fly through her mind, but she shook the hallucinations away.  That was just a silly dream.  Not every dream she had actually meant something.  The only one who could take away bending was the avatar.  Aita had problems just keeping her concentration on the moment, she couldn’t take bending.  That was ridiculous.

Still, chi blocking was an art in and of itself.  The forms had been created by a nonbender who fought beside the avatar during the Great War.  Aita would give anything to learn it. 

“Hey, sis, what are you doing in here?” asked Sato.  Aita froze and quickly shoved both masks under her shirt.

“Nothing, I’m just a little shaken,” said Aita.  Sota smiled sadly and walked over to give her a hug. 

“I’m sorry about yesterday.  But you shouldn’t keep drawing all of dad’s attention to yourself,” said Sota.  Aita pushed him away.

“That man is not our father,” she hissed.  Sota sighed and nodded.

“Will you be alright?”

“Yeah, just let me catch my breath.  I have a few things I need to organize back here,” said Aita.  Sota just stared at her in concern, and Aita forced herself to smile. “If there are no customers later, I think I know how to make it look like you’re really fire bending.”

“Really?  You’re the greatest little sister,” said Sota, giving her a hug.  Aita sighed after he had gone and stared at the ground.  She hated lying to her brother.  She almost always ended up telling him the truth anyway later.  But this time-this time she had a feeling that it would be different. 

She saw a small slip of paper on the floor, almost under the shelves and picked it up.  She opened it, though it was folded intricately.  She was shaking so badly that she almost ripped the paper a couple of times. 

“West docks at 6 o’clock,” she whispered, and then held the paper to her heart.  She’d see the masked man again.  She’d give him back his mask, and he’d understand she wasn’t being ungrateful.  She would find out what he stood for and she would become a great chi blocker.  She would protect her brother and those around her.  She would be strong. 


	2. Spirit

“I just heard the great news.  I can’t believe you’re in the Pro-bending matches,” said Sota excitedly.  Bolin and Mako were in their shop again.  It had been three years since Bolin had cut the pet rock in half and started making a bloody trend out of the stupid things.  Not the pet rocks, the neatly cut in half pet rocks.  Unfortunately it seemed like the group that made the pet rocks had only done so that one time, quickly deciding they didn’t have the time or resources to make a regular supply.  Instead they had agreed to give the ‘patent’ to Aita and also the information about the quarry they got the rocks from.  It was cheap, the rocks were basically useless to the people at the quarry, and most of the price was for transportation. 

It had helped to get these two jokers out of the gangs.  The extra money had given them enough to train, and then they had started playing in the underground bending matches.  Now they were apparently part of the Pro-bending league.  Or whatever it was.  At least they weren’t working for the gangs anymore.  The gangs fluctuated more than should be possible between certain types of bending and mixed bending.  It wouldn’t have been good if one day the brother’s were employed on either side.  If they had anything going for them, then it was their love and dedication to each other. 

“How are you’re new candle babes selling?” asked Mako, looking at the little stone carved baby with a little candle in her hand. “Did you drip wax on her already?”

“It is our ‘pre-used’ custom made toy,” said Sota and then shrugged. “We don’t really get why they’re so popular.  Hell, Aita makes and designs them and she doesn’t understand why kids love them.  Though if there was any girl ever born without any maternal instincts then it’d be my sister.”

Sota looked up from writing checks and glared at her brother. 

“I think I liked it better when you were odds and ends store.  Why did you become a kid’s store?” said Mako with a frown. 

“It’s what we became known for.  All the rest of the stuff just became too much trouble to keep around,” said Sota. “Plus, inventory actually became easier.”

“Could just have been the extra help we got to help with these things,” muttered Aita glaring at one of the candle babes.  Every few months they made a new kind.  Categorizing, saving blueprints and ideas that were popular, canning others, and listening to what the customers wanted back and figuring out when the right time to do so was needed.  Aita came up with all the new ideas and she had three helpers that came in five or six days a week for four to five hours.  They even had someone to help with the paperwork seeing as Aita couldn’t do all that she used to, and to help Sota with some of his as well. 

“Guess we left you a bit short handed when we stopped helping you,” said Bolin. 

“If you actually amount to anything, let us know.  We can have you pre-break the toys and sell them for more,” said Aita.

“Huh, well, I guess we could do you a favor,” said Bato. “But only for your-“

“We gave you a job when all you had was working for the gangs,” said Aita. “You’re repaying the favor that made me have to figure out new ways that breaking things by bending would make it more ‘cool’ for both earth and fire.”

“Hah, you’re store only got as popular as it did because we bended things for you.  I bet the people you hired were all benders,” said Bolin.

“It’s convenient to use benders.  And my brother gets antsy at the idea of false advertising.  If it were up me I’d do it without having to shell out more money for the benders services and just use chisels, wicks, and sand to make my toys,” said Aita, looking up so she could glare at the obnoxious earth bender.  He sighed and looked over at Sota.

“You’re sister is being mean,” he whined.

“Tell me something new,” said Sota with a smile.  Aita rolled her eyes and glanced at the clock.

“I need to get going in an hour,” Aita said.  Sota nodded. 

“Where you going?” asked Bolin.  Aita glared at him.

“Stop annoying Aita, Bolin,” said Mako using that long suffering sigh that Aita sometimes used when speaking to her twin brother. 

“Why don’t you head out now Aita?  It seems like it’s going to be a quiet day.  I’ll finish up writing the checks for our needy little employees and close up for the day,” said Sota.

“Thanks,” said Aita.  She headed to out the door with hardly a glance back.  She really wished her brother wouldn’t let those two hang out at the shop.  Her father had demanded why they didn’t employ their siblings.  It would be more cost efficient, but even Sota had protested against that.  The four weren’t that skilled in their respective bending.  Mother never had enough time between her job at the factory and keeping all the kids and house in order to teach Artac, Luio, and Throng how to water bend properly.  Their father had such a hectic schedule and short temper that there was no chance he could teach Yuaa and Sota how to firebend.  And public school had been a joke.  It wasn’t even much of a surprise that it took thirteen years for Sota to discover he really had the ability to bend.

Getting Sota to properly be able to fake firebending was difficult.  It had been three years since he had ‘come out’ to his father.  Stating that he only found out a month before and was so poor at bending that he had been afraid to speak up. Their stepfather had been so happy that he hadn’t cared, not even after Sota proved his bending was limited.  It didn’t change the fact that Sota wasn’t really his son, but apparently as long as he could firebend, then he could delude himself into believing that he really was his son.  Who knew what their stepfather thought. 

Aita dug out a pack from the corner of the alley.  She easily slipped on the nondescript dark clothing and smooth mask that was in its folds.  She slipped into the shadows of the alleyways and toward the headquarters. 

Amon would be waiting for her.  Well, not waiting, but planning.  In the three years since she’d started learning how to block chi, she had earned herself a place in Amon’s revolution’s ranks.  She wasn’t the best fighter, but she was the only one who had taken to wearing a mask that Amon had personally shown approval for.  Now that had been a day.  He’d taken her to where their main base was and shown her what it was all about.  He had told her his plans for the future.  He spoke to her heart and her dreams. 

She had become an ally, Amon said that to a certain extent she’d become what he was, a symbol.  Without a face they became something more pure, even when they talked about their pasts and their suffering, without a face, their story became everyone’s story, their actual pasts obscured by their faceless visage.  It helped that Amon was also an amazing speaker. 

Aita rolled up her sleeves and tied a string around it.  She had been shocked at first to find that she didn’t quite agree with everything that Amon had to say.  He hated benders.  Not just bending, the actual people he thought were rotten to the core, but he knew Aita was more complicated.  She didn’t hate benders; she acknowledged that they were people, just like her, but that their ability to bend tainted them.  The ability to bend made them feel superior and gave benders too much power.   Benders separated and easily started to hate other elemental benders.  They hurt and extorted those without powers because if they didn’t then others would.  Bending gave way to corruption of the mind and soul.  Aita feared the day it changed Sota beyond her love.  The day it finally turned Mako and Bolin into monsters. 

She had expressed her fears to Amon without revealing much, mostly just vague references to friends and family.  And amazingly, soon after they started talking about benders, Amon’s speeches started to change.  They were still full of strength and a world with quality, but his hatred of benders in the speeches became one also mixed with pity.  And as Aita found, more people responded to that then just hatred.  People were confused.  They hated benders.  They hated all those people who had exploited them with their bending.  Who had gone somewhere in life because they could bend and you couldn’t.  Every person that had friends and family torn from them because those other people were ‘blessed’ with bending.

But that was the problem.  People had loved benders.  Had loved their children, their relatives, their parents, and bending is what had come between them.  Friends torn apart by special treatment and extra classes.  Parents who couldn’t connect with their bending child or with one without.  There were rumors that the upper class had away to tell if the child they were giving birth to would be a bender or not, and from that information would decide whether or not they wanted an abortion.  Aita had met more people during training that didn’t so much wish that all benders would disappear, as they wished all bending would disappear so everyone was on equal footing. 

Lee, Amon’s right hand man, had said that Aita’s more feminine view on the problem had saved their cause from being lost in the thousand of rebels and extremist views that seemed to fester in this city.  It was a real concern, but there were so many things and complaints people had, that it was hard to rally people to just one cause.  Plus, over half the population of the city were benders, benders had plenty of chances to be afraid or question whether they wanted to oppose benders.  Everyone here had grown up around benders, even with a certain amount of divide, there were many benders who took on ‘normal’ jobs or did the same activities.  Some only used bending sparsely that you found out weeks later they were benders.

Everything was hard when your neighbor, your brother, you lover, had something in them that made you hate them.   It wasn’t even them, yeah, a lot of benders were jerks and privileged nuts, but then you got to know others, hear their stories, know their backgrounds and families.  Amon didn’t understand this.  He just saw them as evil.  Amon had never dealt with benders besides the bit where they killed his entire family.  He never had a chance to see them as fellow humans.  Even in the city he kept himself completely separated. 

Lee had eventually joined in.  He told more intimate stories that grounded Amon, instead the more vague ones from Aita.  Actually, Lee’s wife was a bender.  That was the weird part.  He had asked Aita to stand with him when he told his story to Amon.  Because it would have been bad enough if she was a past tense for whatever reason, but he was still with her.  As much as Aita found herself almost distrusting the man, she also understood him.  In the end, she couldn’t kill or do any harm to her own brother.  Turned out that Amon didn’t know about Lee, which made sense, Lee was also their spy master.  Having Aita there stopped any really unnecessary bloodshed. 

Lee had thanked Aita for being there.  She had nodded.  And then Amon had thanked her.  Called her his soul.  Said she was everything that he couldn’t be.  She was the reason people would come and stay.  He would drive their passion and their drive.  She would keep him on the right path.  Make sure that they didn’t become worse than the evil that they fought.  She was his Spirit. 

“Spirit,” called Lee as she entered the training area.  She looked at him in surprise.  She wasn’t supposed to see Amon until later that day.  She looked around, the entire group looked disheartened.  Most of them were coupled together, armor specially made so that the opponent would know if they hit but wouldn’t actually incapacitate the other person.  Low level training for low level followers. 

“What is wrong?” she asked in a harsh whisper.

“It’s Sensu.  The raid yesterday…” Lee said with a bowed head.  The rest of the training group followed suite and Aita realized a moment later what her friend meant.  She sighed and bowed her head.

“Then we must find a new teacher for the recruits,” said Aita softly.  She never talked louder than a harsh whisper when she had her mask on.

“We would be honored if you would teach us Spirit,” said one of the trainees.  Aita smiled behind her mask and bowed slightly.

“I am sorry.  My style is more complicated.  I would not make a good teacher,” she said.  Lee shifted uncomfortably but nodded in agreement.

“We are going to speak Amon.  By the end of the day you should know your new general is and when the funeral to commemorate Sensu is,” said Lee.  He offered his arm to Aita, who ignored the gesture.  It was weird to go from being considered ‘one of the guys’ to Lee treating her like he was a gentleman was disconcerting.  Amon said it was one of the reasons she was perfect.  While there were many who would flock to him and his ability to spin a speech, a female would make them see more sympathetic.  A girl that could act demure at times but also be a symbol of destruction against the benders when needed. 

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Aita whispered as they left.  Lee held her shoulder.  Sensu had been so good to her.  He hadn’t even freaked out too badly when he noticed she had the stance of a bender.  Had simply told her to leave and come back the next day, and then apologized for being rude and said Amon had thought it would be a great joke to see how Sensu would react to a potential threat.  Apparently there had been a bit of a panic after she left until Amon asked if a girl who moved like a bender was in the area. 

“I believe Amon wants you to take over Sensu’s public persona.  Well, not literally.  He was supposed to be our actual face to Amon’s covered one,” said Lee.

“I don’t know,” said Aita. “I’m not sure if it will help our cause if there are two masked people proclaiming about a cause we can’t even show our face to support.”

“Amon’s face was ‘stolen’ and you are his female equivalent,” said Lee.

“The female support is supposed to be the open one.  The one that can show her face and gain the people’s love,” said Aita.  Lee sighed. 

“We will leave it to Amon to decide,” said Lee. Aita nodded.  She wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that part of the plan.  She wasn’t a very public persona.  All of the chi blockers and core group to their anti-bender cause knew her.  But no one had ever tried to follow her home, find out who she is, or notice that her style of fighting incorporated more bender techniques then was normal.  She existed on the fringe.  She had been honored to be allowed to wear a mask.  More so to become an iatrical part of movement, carrying out missions, and even meeting regularly with the man who she had grown to idolize.  Never before did she think she’d be more than a fangirl or common foot soldier. 

“I’m worried about Amon.  He seems to be pulling away even more than usual.  He’s become hardly responsive.  I don’t even know what he plans to do now that Sensu has been silenced,” said Lee. “We think it was an assassination.  They made it seem like a suicide, and that’s what the newspaper put in but…”

“I knew Sensu.  He wasn’t suicidal,” growled Aita, finger curling as she shook with anger over the thought.  Lee grasped their shoulder and then knocked to warn Amon that they were entering his sanctuary. 

“I need you to be sentimental,” whispered Lee.  Aita look at him in confusion and he must have been able to read her because he chuckled. “Instead of acting like your planning the best way to get revenge, pretend you’re crying.”

Aita was glad that he couldn’t see her expression or he’d be able to see that she was blushing. 

They entered the room only to see Amon sitting, slumped, staring (or Aita guessed he was staring) at the papers in front of him.  He looked so defeated.  It was heartbreaking, but then again, if anyone had been close to an equal instead of a follower to their leader, then it had been Sensu.  Lee nudged her and Aita tried to suppress a sigh.  Instead she hitched up her shoulder and then ran to Amon and threw her arms over his shoulders the way she’d seen her half sisters do to her mother or stepfather when they were particularly upset. 

It took him a moment, but then he turned to draw her in more comfortably.  He reached under her mask, and she froze.  Afraid that he would decide to unmask her so she could be the face of their cause.  But he just brushed under her mask at the tears falling there. 

“I suppose you’ve heard about Sensu?” asked Amon.

“He was an amazing and inspiring man,” said Aita.

“You are horrible at being sentimental,” said Amon. “How would you like to plan how we will take our revenge instead of stewing in our misery?”

“Nothing would make me happier,” said Aita with a sincere smile that Amon felt with the gloved hand that had been placed over her mouth.

“I suppose that you put her up to the waterworks?” Amon asked Lee.  The man stroked his beard and smiled conspiratorially.

“Not that it seemed to work,” said Lee. “You never let her just be a girl.”

“She isn’t just a girl,” said Amon. “She is my Spirit.  My silent heart.”

Aita bowed her head. 

“Now about that revenge.  I have a name and place.  The informant you supplied for me, Lee, was able to even get me a picture,” said Amon, shuffling through his papers until he found the right one and then passing it to Aita. She blinked slightly in shock before smiling. “I’m giving it to you because I trust you to have enough restraint and creativity to bring him back to me alive.  I wish to personally see that he is brought to justice.”

“Of course,” said Aita.  Amon sighed.

“Unfortunately this, I believe, is not the one who organized to get rid of Sensu.  We believe whoever arranged for him to be murdered was in a high position.  But we have yet to really narrow down exactly who it might be,” said Amon. “This man, however, will do as a beginning.  He’s a professional.  He’d have to be to carry out this ‘suicide’ convincingly.”

“We underestimated the lengths they would go to stop us,” said Lee. He almost sounded awed. “Are we really gathering that much attention?”

Amon laughed. “Ah Lee, my friend, I always appreciated the way you could see the bright point of any horizon.”

Aita bowed to him.  She was smiling under her mask, and couldn’t help but feel completely the same as Amon. 

“I didn’t mean to diminish the gravity of Sensu’s death,” said Lee.  Amon walked to the man and hugged him as Aita watched. She looked back at the information that Amon had handed her.  It would be her pleasure to avenge her fallen master.  Tears would not bring him back.  The most she could do was reflect on his life and live by his words and teachings. 

Sensu had been almost as radical in his views and hatred of benders, but at the end of the day his true loyalty and passion went to his students.  It helped that the only people who had ever wanted to learn chi blocking were nondenders.  Soon, the lessons by Sensu were geared toward those who wanted and had the ability to become part of their army for the revolution.  He had always been smiling.  Well, almost always.  He was very prone to completely freaking out and blowing up when the mood struck him.  It had been a game among the recruits to see who could anger the master first, though the prize was never worth the pain in Aita’s view.

As the two men started to talk about the preparation for the funeral and finding and recruiting a new teacher, Aita snuck out the window.  Despite her strength, Aita was an accomplished acrobatic.  She had worked hard to get the perfect balance of muscle and limber.  She had the right body for a gymnast.  Compact with great flexibility and strength, her brother said that she was overzealous about her wanting to keep in shape.  But even in her life she was sought out and attacked by benders.  Mostly because they found out that her fighting style heavily mimicked them and benders found that insulting. 

The town was a maze and a straightforward path.  Many times, a citizen of Republic City will not venture far beyond their sector.  Not because they were blocked or forbidden, but because of the separate nature and culture that each section fostered.  Which didn’t stand for all citizens.  Aita had been everywhere since she’d joined the cause, and Sota didn’t seem to realize that there was a difference between high class and low class and went wherever the hell he wanted as long as he wasn’t the one spending any money. 

The sun had started to set when she arrived at the location.  It was a nice little apartment complex.  The tenants in these places would have plenty of room to stretch in with nicely designed with plenty of expensive nick nacks.  Aita saw a flash of the face of the man she was to find.  He looked like he was busy.  Not suspicious, but just get ready for a night out.  There was a chance that he was waiting for retribution, but he might have thought that he had finished his job with no one the wiser, or at least no one to come and exact revenge for those he had hurt.

She jumped to the ledge of the window.  The dying sun playing shadows against her back and the room around her. 

She moved quickly, her feet hardly touching the floor, a trick she learned the night she dreamed of how to teach her brother his bending.  She entered the room the man had been prepping in, only to throw herself to the side to avoid the flames that were aimed at her.

“What sort of freak are you?” asked the man.  Aita glanced to see the murderer charging her, fire daggers appearing in his hands.  A firebender, how clique. 

Aita quickly changed her stance to mimic that of a water bender.  Often the most effective fighting style against a bender was the one that was the opposite of it or the same one.  She easily deflected his first attack, and jabbed him in the arm.  He breathed fire and Aita found herself quickly rolling backward.  She struck out with her feet and he basically fell over her.  His hand wrapping around her hair.  Aita felt her breath catch and she quickly jabbed all the hot spots along his side and up his arm. 

The man gasped and fell backwards holding his sagging side.  He breathed in again and Aita struck his neck and then two points on his legs.  He fell hard on the ground, mobility almost completely gone.  Aita quickly jabbed the remaining spots and sighed.  He was a wiry thing.  He’d weighed a lot less than a lot of the stuff she’d been expected to haul around, and a couple of them had even been more awkward.  Still, she could usually walk around as goofily as she wanted with only the fear of ridicule.  Now she had to make sure that she kept to the shadows and no coppers saw her.  That’s all their cause needed.  One iconic member committing suicide and another ending up being Chief Lin Beifong.  Then again, Lee did have a way of thinking ways to put a positive spin on a horrible situation. 

Aita sighed and started to gather the man while looking for something she could use for cover.  She huffed and then jumped as the man somehow set his restraints on fire.  Somehow he could still do firebending.  Apparently she would have to hit every chi point.  

She knocked on Amon’s door, shifting the weight that rested on her back the window opened sharply and she looked up into Lee’s eyes.

“You look like a hunchback.  How the hell did you make it here without being noticed?” he asked.  Aita pushed the dead weight to the ground.  It thudded dully.  She lifted her hands and quickly jabbed at him. “He give you some trouble?”

“We have to keep him completely immobile or he’ll fire bend,” said Aita, making sure that even the man’s fingers couldn’t twitch and then going to the spot on his eyes. “He started a minny fire by batting his eyelashes.  It was a wonder that I didn’t get caught.”

“A resourceful firebender.  Don’t worry.  I didn’t plan on a public execution.  No need to start shedding blood before we half to,” said Amon.  The man glared.  Aita walked back into the wall and took a look around.  There were three other people than before.  One was Sensu’s original and longest apprentice, Dou.  He had a real knack for their lightning bending batons.  Aita hadn’t really cared for the things.  She avoided them as much as possible and had refused lessons.  The tallest was Amon’s strategist, Luco.  He glared and spit a lot.  Aita avoided him.  He wasn’t interested in anything but himself and the cause.  He threw around the word equal in ways that made Aita‘s head hurt. The last was an elderly man who looked like he’d rather be anywhere but in this room with them.

Amon saw her gaze and beckoned her toward him. 

“Spirit, I’d like you to meet Tozen.  He is thinking of becoming our new teacher.  He is a great chi blocker.  He’d fought against benders,” said Amon.  He man’s scowl grew more pronounced.

“I fought for the good of us all against those who wished to rise up and destroy our way of life,” said Tozen. “Is this a show of how much power you have?  Do you intend to bring equality by killing the strongest benders and show that nonbenders are just, if not more, powerful than them?”

The way the entire room seemed to tense, it was obvious that they all realized they were being called terrorists. 

“I can’t speak for the entire room,” said Aita.  Tozen’s gaze immediately shifted to her in what could have been surprise.  Aita guessed it was more for the fact than what she said.  She whispered all the time, so it was easy to not hear what she said, and her clothes were so baggy that it was hard to tell if she was a man or woman.  “But the only reason I aptured this man was because he killed and tried to shame a person who was a close friend and mentor of mine.  I would have brought him back whether he was a bender or not.”

Though whether Amon would have was a better question.  It wasn’t that he didn’t care about Sensu or wouldn’t have hurt the man who killed their friend.  But benders were so prevalent in this city.  Killing any non bender seemed like a good way to thin their numbers and destroy potential people who could later be of great help to their cause.

“We are Equalists, not murderers.  Our goal is to bring equality to this world.  Not murder indiscriminately,” said Luco.  Aita glared at the man.  He was not helping.

“The only way you believe that we can all become equal is by ridding the world of all benders.  Are you really so sure your goal is not one routed in murder?” asked Tozen.

“Please, Tozen,” said Amon, coming between the two men. “We understand your reluctance to join our cause.  We will discuss whether you wish to become a part of our cause.  For now, this man might be the one who killed Sensu, but he is not the mastermind behind his death, simply the tool.”

“Even though we did not always see eye to eye, Sensu was a close friend of mine.  I will gladly help you track down and bring justice to those that did this to him,” said Tozen.  Aita bowed as Tozen walked toward her and the bound fire bender. “Please, undo his blindfold.  It’s more effective if they can see what I’m doing to them.”

Aita complied and also propped the man up.  Both Tozen and Amon took a step forward. She then bowed and stepped back.  Still close enough so that she could hold the man back if needed.  She closed her eyes, preparing herself for what was to follow.  The floor creaked and there was a violent whoosh of air as the man made another fire blade.

Aita moved out of instinct.  The man was aiming to kill Amon.  She hadn’t hit his chi spots since she entered the room, and he’d just been waiting for his time to strike.  Anger coursed through her veins and she grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him back to the ground.  She flipped over him, and forced his head up and with her pointer and middle finger struck his forehead as she stared him in the eyes.  There was an explosion of air and the man flew three feet backwards. 

There was nothing but a moment of stunned confusion, including Aita’s own.  And then she started blushing.  She wasn’t supposed to mimic the vision she’d seen in a stupid dream three years ago.  She was supposed to kill him.  It would have made bringing him in alive pointless.  But at least she wouldn’t have made a fool of herself.

The man looked surprised, and then sneered, grabbing at his fists to make his daggers again.  No fire appeared.

“What?  My fire bending,” the man clutched at the air. “Where is my bending?”

A knife lodged itself in the man’s chest and he fell over, dead.

“I didn’t see you hit any of his chi points,” said Tozen.  Aita stood frozen.  Surprise and a hint of fear running through her brain making her body unresponsive.  A hand curled around her shoulder and Amon turned her face Tozen and the rest.

“No she didn’t,” said Amon confidently and squeezed her shoulder.  Aita thanked the gods her expression was hidden. 

“I completely took his bending.  He would have never been able to retrieve them no matter how hard he tried,” said Aita.  Sure of that fact even as she said it.  She should have realized that a dream that kept with her for years wouldn’t be just a dream.  She had always been more connected to the spirit world than was normal.  She had visions of how to airbend and she was able to teach her brother the basics.  She told fortunes to the kids, and she hadn’t heard any reports of her predictions being wrong, she had dreams about lessons from classes and beings from their classes. 

“This is how you will bring ‘equality’?” asked Tozen.

“I told you Tozen.  Our goals are to bring equality, we would like to avoid bloodshed as much as possible, though we are pragmatic enough to realize our cause will be met with quite violent opposition,” said Amon and then sighed and looked toward the sky. “The spirits gifted me with Spirit.  She will teach me to take away a benders power and then we will head toward a brighter future where all humans stand together as equals.”

“Are you a spirit my dear?” asked Tozen, smiling at Aita.

“I am Amon’s spirit,” said Aiita with a bow. “I will do all I can to bring peace and prosperity to this world. And I truly believe that the first step in that direction is dispelling bending.”

Tozen closed his eyes in thought. “Ridding humans of the ability to bend will not automatically bring peace.  I have seen nonbenders who believed because of status or intelligence are better than those around them.  But I have also seen even the most well meaning bender exert their powers over nonbenders and at least imply that they are of more use than their nonbender counterparts.”

He lapsed into silence and Aita felt Amon’s fingers dig into her shoulder.  Finally Tozen nodded.

“I would be honored to join your cause,” said Tozen. “Let me start by taking care of this man.  I will have those I know are loyal start searching for the man who is truly behind this attack.”

“Keep me informed,” said Amon.  Tozen bowed and snapped his finger.  A young man in goggles and a young woman similarly dressed came in and quickly gathered and removed the fire benders body. “Luco, keep them safe.”

Luco looked like he would protest for a moment before snapping his teeth shut and following the chi blocking master out with a quick bow.

“Spirit, how?” asked Lee after a moment of silence.  Amon turned her to face him and kneeled down to her level.  They stared at each other.  Aita imagined that for a moment that she could see his eyes.  Just an outline or flicker of light instead of the black pits of the mask.

“I thought it was just a silly dream.  I saw the last avatar taking away the Fire King Ozai’s powers.  I felt their emotions, their power, and their connection to the world around them.  I learned the movement and awareness needed to sever a bender from their bending.  But I thought it was just a dream,” she paused and then turned to Amon.

“Can you teach me?” asked Amon.  Aita closed her eyes and then nodded. “Then that is what we must concentrate on.  The sooner we take bending away, the less chance we will lose more friends.”

Aita nodded and then turned to Lee.

“I’m sorry Lee, but as I know that I can teach Amon, I know I cannot teach you.  It takes a certain awareness and strength you don’t have,” said Aita. “I will try to teach you later, but…”

“I understand Spirit.  You must teach Amon.  He will be the one to lead us to victory,” said Lee.  He bowed and left.

Aita sighed and looked to her leader.  She was going to teach her idol.  She was going to pass on knowledge that would give them the edge to winning this war.  She let the excitement and pride swell within her, and then she let it go.

“Shall we begin?” she asked.

===

Aita yawned as she fanned herself with the fancy ‘fortuneteller’ hat that her water bending employee had bought for her.  She yawned and winced as the bell rang signaling that more little hellions were here for their fortune.  She sighed and opened her mind.

“Hello Tulla, Izan,” she said in her most sage like voice. She then cocked her head to the side. “You are not here for your future to be told.  You have news.”

The two looked at each other and smiled.

“The avatar stood up to the triple threat triads,” said Izan excitedly.

“The avatar was arrested by the metal bending cops,” said Tulla.

Aita felt her hat slip from her hands.  Just as they had lost a friend but gained a powerful ally.  Just as they had learned a new skill that could very well offset the war in their favor.  The avatar appeared in their city.  This was perfect.


	3. Take it Away

 “Careful Miss Ping,” said Aita, walking up quickly to take some of the teetering bags from a struggling woman’s arms. “You really should take your husband with you when you go shopping.  I’ve never seen someone who can buy so much on such a small budget.”

“Oh, I get by.  You sure you don’t want lessons?” asked Ping with a laugh.  Aita rolled her eyes.

“I do enough budgeting and orders for the store.  I hate shopping, especially for myself,” said Aita, Ping giggled.  Aita glanced at her and then down at the bags of groceries in her arms. “Are you sure you can hold all that?  If there’s anything breakable in them you should probably give them to me.  You look even more off balance than usual.”

“You sound like my husband.  I’m fine Aita. Oh, have you heard about the avatar recently?  Got herself into the Pro-bending matches.  Her first match was a little…” the woman took off into her usual endless stream of gossip.  Aita tuned it out.  Usually she’d listen with half an ear.  It was always a good way to get the news or at least the common perspective on new movements.  Ping loved talking about politics; sure Aita also learned a lot of useless information about the woman’s neighbors, but she also kept up with political spins on things also.  She rally should listen to the common opinion on the avatar, but Aita had no interest in Pro-bending and was used to tuning it out anytime anyone around talked about it when around her. 

“Did you cut your hair?” asked Aita as the woman started to talk about the purple haired woman with the peasant cat.

“No,” said Ping, looking a little putout that Aita had interrupted her. 

“You got new clothes?” asked Aita.  She was sure there was something different about the woman.  The smirked a little.

“No.”

“You plucked your eyebrows,” guessed Aita and then glared as the woman actually laughed while shaking her head. “You lost weight.”

“I hope not since I’m pregnant,” said Ping with a wide grin.  Aita stopped dead; Ping stopped and smirked at her.  Aita looked down at the woman’s body and took a step backwards.

“Are you sure you’re good carrying those bags?” she asked, her voice shaking.  Ping just laughed and batted away the comment.

“I’m fine Aita.  Hardly two months along and the baby is doing splendidly according to the water bending healer I’ve been seeing,” said Ping with a happy sigh.  She tried to look down on her stomach, but was blocked by the bags.  Aita rolled her eyes.  She’d try to steal one of the bags.  But she was already balancing four, and trying to take one away from Ping when the other woman was against it might mean Aita would drop all the bags.

They walked around the corner and Aita saw Ping’s house.  Lee was fixing the door knob.  Aita smiled.  She had to hurry this up.  Her brother was expecting her back in the store soon.  She only had to drop off some supplies and she had already been gone for too long.

“Your husband must be proud,” said Aita. Ping’s smile faded.

“He was, at first.  We were going to wait a little longer to have children, but this little miracle just couldn’t wait.  At first he was excited, but this city got to him.  I love it here.  I’ve spent my entire life on these streets and with these people.  But with the gangs and anti-bender Revolution gaining so much focus in the city. It’s a dangerous time to bring a child into the world,” said Ping with a sigh.  Aita smiled kindly. 

“The world is almost always in peril.  In history there have only been superficial times of true peace.  Moments of peace and family within the troubled times are what get them through them,” said Aita.

“That’s very philosophical of you,” said Ping with a sad smile, though she didn’t look at Aita. “But thank you for the sentiment.  Lee!”

Ping ran to her husband and danced excitedly, her husband patiently listened to her excited chatter.  Lee looked up and glared as Aita walked past the two married couple to put her bags in the kitchen.  Lee hated Aita, probably because he thought she was bender and had some dirt on him.  Aita had a bad habit of smirking at Lee whenever she saw him.  It was mostly because she thought it was funny that she could be so close to him, without her mask on, and he couldn’t tell who she was.  The fact that he took her presence the completely wrong way was even funnier to her.

“See you around Ping,” said Aita, slipping out the door as the two came in.  Lee glared at her and she stuck her tongue out at him. 

As she left she kept half an eye on her surroundings.  She had two hours left until four when they would close up shop.  In two weeks, when tourist season would start along with a string of festivals and the Pro-bending tournament would begin.  It would be difficult to convince her brother to give her all the morning shifts.  They only stayed open until nine, but it would eat into her time with the revolution.  Still, her brother also liked being in the middle of those celebrations, not a shopkeeper during them.  Aita was also cranky in the morning, or grotesquely irritable as Bolin had once described her.  Even before Aita had started her nightlong activities, she hadn’t been a morning person.

Still, tonight was going to be the beginning.  They would finally capture those triple threat rouges and then show the world how they were going to make benders part of the past.  Amon was calling it a Revelation.  It had taken him a few days to perfect the technique of removing a person’s bending.  For one thing, taking away bending wasn’t like bending itself.  Bending required specific symbolic movement that worked within the spectrum of cause and effect to trigger the reaction within the element of question that they were concentrating on.  Taking away bending was almost completely within the mind.  It was important that the one destroying the connection between a person and their bending.  Besides that, the person removing the bending had to assert themselves, and feel themselves connected with a person in order to destroy it.  Amon did this by creating fear and exertion, turning the person from him, and then taking it away from them while they couldn’t see him.  Unlike Aita, it wasn’t a neat severing, the power instead faded away.

Finding the right guinea pigs had been surprising easily.  Tozen had turned into an invaluable ally.   Aita was surprised they hadn’t been trying to recruit him before this.  Sensu had been a part of the revolution when it was just the echoes of a movement, more an idea than an actual belief within the people.  Aita didn’t think the revolution would be the same without Sensu.  He’d had all the students with no real focus to their new abilities.  He’d been afraid that they would form a gang.  Instead he’d found Amon preaching his cause and they had found a common belief and goal. 

But Tozen, he had some intense students and brilliant ideas.  They wore simple goggles before when engaging in any sort of action against the various bender gangs.  But Tozen had new tricks to teach, which included smoke bombs and special masks with weird green glowing goggles.  Most of the ‘common footsoldiers’ as the recruits called themselves, wore these now.  Their face was completely hidden and they believed they would be more effective that way.  Aita had eventually found herself agreeing.  While they needed actual human faces and connections within their organization.  The public speakers who preached in parks and public places about their cause never wore masks.  The people who distributed fliers and formed rallies in their support didn’t wear masks.  The common bouncers that dealt with their followers during rallies and functions also didn’t wear masks.

It was interesting that the benders had thought of them as just nuisance before.  Almost comical.  Sure, it was only recently that they’d started acting out in small discernible ways.  Before all their attacks had been carried out in the dead of night and no to little evidence was left to suggest that any Anti-bender Revolution was involved.  Now though, there were entire crowds of people who spoke and rallied to their cause.  It was still rather tame on the civilian front, not too many instances where nonbenders took out vengeance against their bending abusers.  They had been browbeaten and conditioned to think they were less powerful and less important than benders.  But Amon’s teaching over the year had not only been about equality but also about strength in numbers.  While it was true that big cities, the Republic City in particular, could have a greater percentage of benders, in a lot of places, in general there were more nonbenders than benders.  In small towns the percentage could be eighty percent nonbenders, and in the end sheer numbers could beat even the avatar in ‘avatar mode.’

It was the lesson Amon had taught in village after healing from the scars inflicted to his face but to his entire body.  Most of the village had been nonbenders under the thumb of a family of fire benders.  Amon had found been their secret.  The fire benders had thought that he was dead, instead they hid him and as thanks and a way to get revenge, Amon was able to first rally the villagers to the idea of overthrowing the firebenders that were oppressing them, and then help set up a plan to take back their village.  Amon said he’d learned what nonbenders could do then and that it was really nonbenders that kept the balance.  They were the ones with ideas and flexibility.  They had to manipulate the world around them while keeping true to it.  Nonbenders couldn’t force the Earth to move with a wave of their hand, they had to get down into it, create devices, they had to bend to the rules of the earth instead of forcing the earth to bend to them. 

Of course he hadn’t stayed.  Once it was over, he convinced the village to blame it on him and then left after making sure the authorities knew he was still alive and what the firebenders had done to him.  It was one of the reasons Amon couldn’t be seen publically.  The Metal bending police, if they caught him, didn’t have much on him, nothing that would stick, but they could send him back to the authorities in their village. 

“What took you so long Aita?  Ama was in here asking for another reading,” said Sato.

“That woman.  I only do that once a week and it’s for the kids,” said Aita with a sigh.

“Soon we’ll turn into a fortune teller shop,” said Sato with a laugh. “So, did the Agrins give you any trouble?”

“No, I ran into Ping on the way back,” said Aita, taking a sheet from under the counter so she could take inventory.

“That earth bending woman you stalk?” asked Sato.

“I don’t stalk her,” said Aita with a frown and Sato shrugged. “She’s pregnant.  Husband is worried about child because of all the turf wars and Anti-bender Revolution. What’s with that stupid look?”

“You know gossip.  My sister knows gossip and is gossiping,” said Sato.  Aita shifted her weight and chucked her sandal at her brother.  When she had regained her balance her brother was resurfacing from behind the counter with her shoe.

“I gossip.  I always tell you what she says,” snapped Aita.

“No, you tell me the housewife version of politics you’ve already told me,” said Sato with a yawn, tossing her sandal back at her. “Which, while the most interesting because at least you aren’t being stubbornly neutral.  I mean, I’m your brother, can’t you at least see why when people say they’re Equalists it’s insulting.”

“No, but I can tell you that when they all themselves Equalists, they’re usually not using the word correctly,” said Aita. “Or really a word at all.  That’s why it’s better to call them the Anti-bender Revolution.  It really tells the public what they’re agenda is and makes them seem like an actual threat.”

“Aita.”

“Would you rather benders think that they’re just some easily passed over group?  There are rumors that they’ve been taking people off the streets.  Just thugs and lowlifes so far.  But what happens when go after regular citizens?  What happens if they get you?  Though their welcome at stepfather.  Actually…”

“Aita.”

“Kidding, kidding.  Would you really have believed if I worried about him?” asked Aita.

“I wish you would forgive him.  He’d changed,” said Sato. Aita just shook her head. “Oh, I have to tell Bolin about this.  You gossiping.  He won’t let you live it down ever.”

“I haven’t seen him since the avatar was announced,” said Aita and missed her brother rolling his eyes.

“He’d been preoccupied with Pro-bending.  They’ve officially made it into the Championship,” said Sota.

“I guess they’ll be busy until that ends,” said Aita. 

“Yeah.”  The door chimed as a bunch of children and a couple of parents entered.

\--

That night another turf war was brewing between the three major gangs.  This was the perfect opportunity to capture the most symbolic benders of oppression and show the world what they were capable of.  Not today.  No, that was what the rally was for.  Today was simply retrieval. 

Aita nodded at Tozen as she entered the Chi blocking camp.  This was the main one.  It changed locations often, but today it was in the main compound.  A spot they’d probably have to abandon when they were taken a little more seriously. The authorities were always looking for them, and there had been a few raids on the underground chi bending lessons.  It got to the point that most of the outlying ones, and now all of them thanks to Tozen wore masks all the time.   

A couple of the new recruits looked her way.  Because of her training Amon, she hadn’t had time to meet with these new people.  She heard most of them were fanatics.  Oddly enough the teacher who was most reserved about joining them had the most invested pupils.  A couple of them had been part of their cause.  Just hadn’t been able to tell their teacher so.  Aita had heard them wondering why Amon hadn’t taken more drastic steps to eliminate the benders.  That’s what the rally was for, well, partially.  All the recruits were going to be present at it as sentries and a silent and almost invisible show of force. 

Aita had no idea what the recruits thought of her.  The truth was, a lot of the ‘foot soldiers’ weren’t sure what she was supposed to be.  She helped on missions, though she kept mostly to the shadows and background.  Only usually stepping in to help with fighting if the battle became desperate.  Besides that she mostly stole information.  She heard most thought that she was either his lover or a crazed fangirl.  The original recruits knew she was a formidable opponent, able to use her unique fighting style to distract and takedown her opponent. But the new ones only thought of her as some sort of copycat.

“Spirit, Amon is waiting for you,” said Lee as he was leaving.  Aita nodded and entered the room. 

“How’d you know I was here?” she asked as she entered the room.

Amon sat at his desk, a cold plate of fish and rice before him.  He wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t move his mask in the slightest around anyone, not even her. 

“Good timing,” said Amon with a chuckle. “Come and sit.”

Aita bowed and sat at his feet.  He laughed and pulled her into his lap.  She blushed and wondered what happened to inspire this. 

“Tonight we’re moving against the three gangs.  If all goes well we’ll at least retrieve the leaders of the Triple Threat gang,” said Amon.  Aita nodded and waited for her orders. “I need you to stay here tonight.”

Aita stood up from Amon’s lap stiffly and just stared at her leader.

“This isn’t meant as a slight against you.  While I am an accomplished fighter, many things can go wrong in a fight and I need a stand on the battle while I act as a mouth piece,” said Amon.

“Not your choice,” said Aita.  Amon sighed.

“Tozen.  It turns out that he is quite a good spirit himself,” said Amon. “His words made sense.  I’ll still fight, but it’ll be in more controlled areas with no chance of me being captured.  I need someone to lead the troops, but also be a symbol.  Tozen will be working to train the recruits, and I can’t lose him.  The only way they’ll get him is if they raid the right underground Chi blocking class, though Tozen will never directly show his loyalty to us.  What we need is someone who can be my stand in.  To inspire the same ideals and loyalty in the troops.”

“I thought I was just a joke,” said Aita, looking away from her leader as she said so.

“Not among those who trained with you, know of your conviction, and saw me take back and approve of your mask,” said Amon. “What I need you to do today is show the new recruits your strength and conviction.  Let your actions speak.  You’ve always been better with actions than words.  And I need you in the best way possible.”

Aita bowed.  She spoke in whispers anyway.  It made much more sense for her to let her actions speak.  What she did say was usually cliché and quick. 

“What about the face of our group?” asked Aita.

“I found a solution.  While we were never officially tied with him, he has been speaking in our defense for the last year.  He’s a disgraced politician.  And before you move in a way that encapsulates Lee’s entire thirty minutes rant on why this is a bad idea.  What he did was never proven and a lot of the council is known to do worse.  They really got rid of him because of his stance against them,” said Amon.  The man stood and placed a hand on Aita’s shoulder.

“He is a strong man.  Most of the nonbenders were taken from any position of power after the hoisting of Rorik,” he sighed and shook his head.

“You don’t have to convince me,” said Aita. Amon patted her and then hugged her. Aita stiffened a little.  She was worried about him.  At first he had seemed excited when he heard the avatar was here.  But The Revelation would change everything.  Before they were proclaiming that they basically wanted to become murderers, because how else would they rid the world of benders and bring equality?  Now they had the ability to take bending away.  The thing was, this was a two edged sword.  On one hand, this would bring more supporters to them.  But it also, ironically, would make them seem a more of a threat to the benders of this city.

“Go, I will see you tomorrow when we show this city just what they are up against.” Aita stepped from the man’s grasp and bowed to him before she left.  She wasn’t sure what happened.  But she would stand by him and now apparently she was his… what would the military equivalent be?  General?

“Spirit, why are you not with the rest of retrieval party?” asked Tozen as Aita entered the training area.  She looked around.  All of Tozen students were probably here, though she recognized the body type of several of some of her old training partners. 

She walked over to Tozen and bowed.  He looked surprised and started to bow in answer.

“I request a duel,” whispered Aita.  Tozen started and looked at her in surprise before nodding. 

“Make room,” said Tozen.  The new recruits backed away, almost all of them tensing.  Obviously they weren’t sure what to make of their trainer and one of the leaders of their cause dueling.  Aita was actual grateful for this.  She was sure that the recruits wouldn’t attack her as long as she wasn’t using deadly force.  Really, she was grateful they weren’t laughing and betting against her.

They bowed again and then Tozen ran in.  Aita held her ground, partly because of her bending training and so she better react.  Once again, a lot of chi blockers attacked before allowing the benders, to, well, bend.  It was difficult to counterattack against bending.  Many benders just had to be all encompassing and it was impossible to stop the ice, metal, or fire and even more so to dodge.  So attacking first made sense. 

The man came at her, fingers out but formed so that Aita would have a great deal of trouble trying to break his fingers.  She let her foot go back, digging back into the earth and then brought it forward while keeping her arms bent to her side.  As a result Tozen instantly went to jab her sides first.  Aita twisted her body and went for his exposed side.  Tozen tried to compensate and Aita pulled her foot back and was able to trip him up.

As he regained his footing and tried to turn back to attack.  Aita moved her other foot forward, still keeping her weight centered and jabbed his upper torso and the beginnings of his left arm.  He went limp on that side, but caught her wrist with a jab as she tried to move away.  That was one thing about mimicking earth bending, it was very grounded and movement wasn’t as fluid as it was in other bending. 

She pulled up and allowed a stance more reminiscent of air bending before digging in again and attacking the chi points up the right side of his body.  Tozen’s body went limp and she struck out, catching him in a tight bind with her own legs and then putting her arms around his neck as if she was going to snap it. 

Before his students could attack her she quickly retreated from Tozen and bowed.  It didn’t take long before Tozen was standing again.  Aita tensed as it looked like that Tozen’s students were going to attack her despite the fact she’d backed off.  Tozen made a cutting motion with his hand to stop them. 

“She’s a bender,” said one of the students.  Aita was impressed; some of the people she’d trained with hadn’t caught onto her fighting style.

“No, she never bended, just used earth bending style of fighting combined with chi blocking,” said Tozen and bowed to Aita.  Aita returned the gesture.

“All forms of martial arts is based on the bending of whatever region it originated from.  Even chi blocking has elements of fire bending when it’s at its more defensive,” said the student. “She was using pure earth bending techniques.”

“Convincingly,” said one of the soldiers that Aita had trained with. “She’s always done that.  Depending on the environment she will change the type of bending she’s shadowing.  She’s just really convincing, she moves like a bender and even if you know she’s not one you react as if she’s using your power against you.  But unless she’s a firebender, waterbender, and earthbender, than she’s not a bender of any sort.”

“You can’t fight that way.  There’s a reason nonbenders don’t fight exactly like benders.  It’s not practical,” said one of the students.  He lashed out.  Aita quickly signaled for no one to help her.  The new recruits probably wouldn’t care so it was mostly a signal for the others.  It was a simple thing to throw the idiot off.  He was hotheaded and she took him out first with a quick quirk of her legs and then a quick succession of jabs to his sides and then simply let him fall to the ground, not even bothering to show that she could easily take him out. 

“I’ll be leading you in battle,” said Aita.  The entire group froze.  Surprised.

“That’s perfect,” said one of them.  Everyone turned to him, even Tozan and Aita. “What?  Before Amon deemed her to be his Spirit, we used to call her Shadow.  Not just because she reminded us of Amon’s shoulder.  Always a few steps behind when he called her to him, but also because of her bending fighting and the fact that she tends to keep to the shadows.  She hardly ever speaks and she tends to keep to the shadows even when fighting.”

“And how does this make her perfect?” asked Tozen.  Aita turned to him.

“We cannot fight in the open.  Benders outnumber us.  They hold more power in the city.  We have to keep to the shadows,” said Aita. 

“She’s right.  Most of our aggressive moves have been done in the evening and night.  Even when we fight during the day, it’s quick and we wear masks and smoke bombs that hide our movements and identities,” said the same soldier.  Aita wished she could remember his name.

“We have never had the luxury of fighting in the open or revealing our skills.  Chi bending has always has a negative stigma in this city.  You all know that.  Now that we are part of this revolution we must come to terms that we are in essence part of a rebellion and cannot act openly when our forces are so overwhelming outnumbered.  In this regard, I support Amon’s choice of commander one hundred percent,” said Tozen.  Everyone nodded, some more reluctantly than others. “Very well, I believe it’s time to take a break.”

Aita bowed and went to go talk to some of her old fellow students.

“Hey Spirit,” said the guy earlier.

“I love your mask.  Amon give you that when he changed his?” asked a masked woman.  Aita nodded.  Her mask hadn’t changed as much as Amon’s had.  What had once been a very simple design for Amon had changed two weeks ago to something more elaborate but completely symbolic, even the paint that went up the side of the sharp contours.  Hers was still much softer white mask with only a thin black line surrounding the eyes and pulling back at the edge.  There was also a small red dot on her chin. 

“I had wondered if he’d give you a new one,” said the woman. “I’m Myra.”

She nodded and almost seemed putout when Aita didn’t talk so Aita reached out and took out the necklace around the other woman’s neck.  Myra blushed and jumped around nervously.

“It’s not a liability.  No one has choked me yet and I’ve been a part of The Revolution for over three years,” said Myra.  Aita shock her head and tried to make the right motion that she liked the jewelry without saying anything.

“I think she likes it,” said another student, bumping the excitable woman.

“Oh, it was my mother’s,” said the woman, touching the necklace. “One of her students lost control of his bending after becoming upset and smothering her.”

“My shop and family was caught by a fire started to teach my neighbor ‘a lesson’” said one of Tozen’s students.  Aita nodded and patted the man on the shoulder.  Most Chi blockers had stories like this.  Some were sick of being oppressed by the various gangs and losing livelihoods, some lost friends, many lost family members, and there were even those that the Revolution had to support because they were runaways from abusive families. 

Aita encouraged them to tell their stories and by the time Tozen called them to begin training again, they eagerly allowed Aita to join in and Tozen even allowed her help in the training.  After three in the morning, the time Aita would usually start thinking about heading home.  Instead they talked over tactics and ways to keep control of her troops even when she doesn’t talk much. 

She crashed when she got home.  But the next day she would be at the rally that would change everything.  It would be better if they didn’t have to do it in secret.  But Amon had made it purposely easy to get into.  The invitation was the friggin’ poster they were handing out at the various ‘public speaking’ areas.  The chance that a metal bender or some bender besides the one ones whose bending was being removed was high. 

They were taking certain precautions.  The man at the door was instructed only to let in a certain number of benders.  He was an expert at reading people though he needed support of some fighters since he was a horrible one himself.  Aita hadn’t met him much, maybe once, she mostly knew him from reputation since he was always a ‘bouncer’ at the underground rallies where Amon spoke. 

The day dragged on, especially when Aita’s firebender employee decided to destroy half the work area.  By the time she snuck to her spot, she was glad to put on her baggy clothes and mask.  Her brother had been melancholy, blaming it on only seeing his sister during work and his friends too busy Pro-bending. 

“Spirit, welcome sister, we will begin soon,” said Amon.  She nodded and walked over to the platform that would bring them up to the stage.  Her eyes flashed to where the six prisoners were brought over to stairs.  They wouldn’t be coming up with them.  Personally Aita thought that the smoke machine was a bit much, but she wasn’t the public speaker.  She wasn’t even sure she could be a good commander.

She glanced, wondering if, since they had so many, if they’d been able to get more than the leaders of just the triple threat triad. 

And she saw Bolin.  He looked scared beyond all belief.  Still goofy, but scared.

“You alright Spirit?” asked Lee.  He didn’t wear the full mask.  Aita worried a bit over that.  It wouldn’t be too hard to identify him.  His long mustache was very distinguish. 

“They’re not all leaders,” she said with a shrug.

“No, we got lucky and picked up a Pro-bending kid too,” said Lee with a smile.  Aita nodded and turned away from them.

But she felt a thrill of happiness.  She wasn’t close to Bolin.  She put up too many walls to be close to anyone.  Often, when she wasn’t working, she was Spirit.  She couldn’t afford friends.  She got in trouble with her brother enough for being so removed.  He wanted to do things outside of work.  The only reason that he didn’t complain was they normally did see each other every day and slept in the same bed.  They were twins, but this much time together tended to lead to rough patches. The more time the spent together, the more chance they had to grate on each other and lash out. 

Still, Bolin was her brother’s friend certainly.  He might even think of her as friend, a very distant one, but he was a friendly flirt who had more friends than there had been avatars.  She could help; it wouldn’t even seem that weird.   She wouldn’t teach him Chi blocking, he probably wouldn’t want to, at least not at first.  But he would need support from someone, and his brother was a bender and sympathy from a bender about not having bending always came across as insincere and infuriating. 

Plus, she was connected to the spirit world.  She could tell Mako that she was worried about his mental health.  Bolin would probably push her away, though they always had a certain connection.  Though most of that coming from a sort of rivalry that had cemented itself when Aita had gone with her brother to their apartment above the Pro-bending building.  She had thrown around a few weights and attracted a gaggle of Pro-bending girls who were impressed that she didn’t have to use bending to lift the weights.  Apparently a girl coming in and attracting more attention than he had in the year or so that he’d lived in the friggin’ place was insulting and he now dragged her there at least once a month for them to see who could attract more girls to them at the gym. 

Aita always won.

And it was impossible to tell Bolin that it didn’t mean anything.  The girls were just envious of Aita’s natural strength.  You did need both good bending and actual physical strength in order to be a Pro-bender.  They usually surrounded her so they could ask her question and ogle at her the same way a guy might do to a stronger guy.  Girls were more giggly about it.  But there was nothing sexual.  She wasn’t interested in them, and she was pretty sure none of them were interested in her. 

But Bolin just sulked and vowed that he’d beat her, even if it meant somehow making Aita into a ‘proper girl.’

She felt bad that he was here under these circumstances though.  She’d have rather have made the process as painless as possible for people she liked.   Bolin and Mako for one, Lee’s wife, her brother, even her annoying employees.  Yes, she wanted them to lose their powers, but not as a spectacle of hate where negative emotions were high.  The gangs deserved.  But not Bolin.  He wasn’t a bad guy, just incredibly thick.  There were a lot of people that need a delicate hand when taking away powers.  As much as Aita didn’t understand or want to be around little children, she didn’t want to traumatize the vicious little things, especially considering their parents would be too wrapped up in themselves in most cases to properly take care of a child that had lost their bending. 

Still, she wouldn’t interrupt this rally.  She’d just make sure to catch Bolin and help him through the change as soon as she could.  She was sure Mako would be the first to tell them of the tragedy.  And if she had too, Bolin wouldn’t be too hard to track down.  Almost everyone on the streets knew him because of his friendliness, his brother, and the fact that he was now an up and coming Pro-bender. 

The stage started to raise and Aita moved behind Lee.  Amon tended to be a little too into pacing for her to keep ‘hidden’ by him. 

Amon immediately stepped up to the mike as the lights turned on.  She thought the announcer who called Amon a savior was being a little overdramatic, but the crowd responded well to the proclamation.  Amon immediately spoke about his past.  How his family had been oppressed and then killed by firebenders.  The audience actually ‘awwed’ when he said they took his face, even though Aita thought that was an awkward phrasing.  Maybe because in the Spirit world she’d heard whispers of a being that stole faces and she kept imagining the firebender as a giant face changing centipede instead of the tragedy that actually surrounded his past.  He continued, touching on the Avatar and her idea of balance. 

Then came the most delicate part.  The Revelation.  He talked about how the Spirits choose him to bring in a new era of balance and gave him the ability to take away someone’s bending permanently. He had actually spoken about this to Aita, and she agreed this was the best way to present it.  Luco had been excited about the comparison.  Aita was ‘Spirit’ after all and had immediately chosen Amon as the one she would teach how to take away powers.  And why else would the spirits have shown Aita how to do this.  The day after she had the vision she’d met Amon and become a part of his revolution.  The spirits never contested her choice to teach him, and while the spirits could be round about in some ways, when things were going wrong they tended to manifest themselves in one way or another.

Amon first called forward Lightning BoltZolt.  A name that the man had probably chosen for himself when he came of age, because there were very few parents that cruel to their own children.  He helped their cause by being rude and arrogant.  Bolin still looked terrified.  When Lee turned, she turned with him. 

He called Lightning BoltZolt out for a duel.  It hardly lasted two seconds before Amon had him twisted and the man’s lightning first flared uncontraollably, then died to fire, and then petered out.  There was a second of silence before a wild look came over the man’s face and he attacked again as if he had powers and then fell to the ground.  He wouldn’t make it.  Aita saw that instantly.  With the loss of his power, Lightning BoltZolt would try to keep his cool and unwavering nerve.  But the loss of it would eat away at him, at his family, at his followers, and one of the dams would break and Lightning BoltZolt would be dead within the month. 

While the vision swam Amon spoke.  Every time a benders power was taken she saw a flash of their possible future.  They were always grim.  Aita reminded herself that these were horrible men.  They wouldn’t have the same support Bolin would.  Once Bolin was no longer a bender and Aita…

Fog covered the area and Luco went to get Bolin.  Aita paused and felt Lee run past her toward the benders.  Amon was also heading in their direction, but at a slower pace, seeming to be unconcerned.  He signaled Aita to stand by his side and they arrived just in time to see the Avatar taking off with Mako and Bolin on a polar bear-dog. 

“Let her go.  She’s the perfect messenger to tell the city of my power,” said Amon.  The rebels stopped in their attack. 

Aita stepped back to help where she could.

They were able to get control over the crowd and lead everyone out of the empty warehouse.  Thankfully this wasn’t a very popular spot for their rallies since they’d never be using it again.  No one was grievously hurt. 

As she was heading home, she noticed one of the rebels leaning to the side.  Aita walked over to him and stood in front of him.  It took him a minute to notice her.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked.  Aita cocked her head to the side and went to lean on the wall next to him. He watched her for a few seconds before sighing. “You know that girl with the necklace?”

Aita nodded.

“My entire family is benders.  Insane and overbearing, if they could have killed me they would have.  My little brother was a power house with no control.  My parents didn’t help much.  They were overbearing and… he lost his temper we think and killed his teacher by controlling her blood and making her suffocate.  Nothing helped him and I found him…” he couldn’t end his story and Aita was sure he was crying. “Some people are born evil.  I understand that.  But bending.  It twists people, takes away their innocence and can destroy everything we hold precious.”

“We stand for equality, but what we want is peace.  Bending has always brought on suffering, taking away a person’s innocence and humanity,” said Aita.  The recruit nodded and sighed.

“Are you aware you talk in cliques?” asked the man wetly.  Aita slapped him on the shoulder and brought him with her to Amon and Tozen.

“Spirit,” said Amon, glancing at the other in confusion.

“Karak,” said Tozen.  She pushed the recruit toward his teacher and then nodded to Amon.

“She’s simply showing her approval.  Welcome to our ranks young man,” said Amon. “We’re breaking up for tonight Spirit.  I will see you tomorrow Spirit.”

Aita bowed and waved to the young man before she head into the shadows. 


	4. Sleeping Moments

Bethai was in Amon’s quarters with the rest of the core group when Aita slipped into the room.  Bethai would have been the logical choice as their public persona, if she hadn’t made herself as uncomfortable and boring as possible.  Aita didn’t understand how the people she worked with didn’t fall asleep listening to her.  She moved around the funding they had so that their people didn’t starve, it was almost like her half of the job was legit.  It was boring.  Aita knew that Bethai had to deal with the most paperwork while the rest of them laughed at the idea.  Sure something they wrote up reports, but even that was sparingly. 

Amon liked her though.  Aita had to endear him to the idea at first.  Even when she joined the Equalists were still getting their feet under them.  Their ideas were solidly built on the idea that the benders were oppressing them and getting rid of benders would make the world a better place.  A good start, but it didn’t offer much more than that.  The people who listened to Amon then used his words more as a momentary outlet of all their frustrations and then they moved on with their lives.  They never tried to make a difference or make their lives better.  Many of the chi blockers thought that they could bring balance to their own lives by learning chi blocking. 

“I am concerned about our lodging for the children,” said Bethai. “Spirit, whether it was her intention or not, brought to our attention that some of our kids are not only high risk, but are actively being sought after, and not all of them by ‘concerned’ parents.”

“Something happen?” asked Amon.

“Three weeks ago the daughter to a high profile earth-bending diplomat was murdered, the body burned beyond recognition, the Agni-Kai’s were suspected, but it turns out that you had sent a couple of infiltrators to backup Spirit while she stole some sort of document or the secret to taking bending.  I don’t care.  One of them took care of the murderers, smeared the girl with dirt, and somehow kept her hidden,” said Bethai.

“If she’s a nonbender from an abusive bender home, than she is more than welcomed in our homes despite how well off her family might have been,” said Amon sharply.

“Yes, but the family isn’t full of idiots.  They figured out their little girl is still alive, or at least that their ‘kidnappers’ were dead and the girl’s body nowhere to be found.  I guess they looked into other options, or tried to bury it, but rumors started and they have targeted us as the ‘kidnappers’ which, after I did look through the kids, she’s in one of our homes,” said Bethai.

“So?  We have quite a few permanent spots where people won’t be too hard up to house some kids.  And we could use the resources and get a few bleeding hearts on our side by developing a system for getting them fed and stuff,” said Luco and then seemed to get lost in thought. “How many have we got?”

“Twenty-five, three just need to find steady jobs, but there’s always a nonbender on the street under fourteen who can’t catch a break, so it might be more by the end of the week if the authorities don’t track us down and smear our name through the mud,” said Bethai. “I can’t spin this well enough Amon.  We might lose that government official in the end if this gets out.  The rumors are bad enough.  Yeah, some people understand that it’s necessary, but we have such a pro-family culture, especially among the conservatives, that any deviation is seen as worse.  Or at least they’ll say that we had the right intentions but that we only ended up hurting the children by not even making an effort to find real homes for them.”

“But we can’t.  These are runaways.  The ones the government overlooked,” said Luco.

“It doesn’t matter.  They’ll say if we couldn’t relocate them, then we should have found ways to alert the proper authorities, and that if there aren’t enough resources for the authority it’s because it’s being used to stop us,” said Bethai and then she sighed. “I can spin a tale as good as any.  My speeches and patterns have our followers multiplying, though your vision and charisma can’t be overlooked Amon.  Still, we are at a delicate stage, though we have been rising in this city for years, it has only been the last year that we have truly gained the support of the people.  This fact, unfortunately, will shake our follower’s hearts.  They won’t turn on us, but it will place a strain on our citizen belief, and that doubt that can be fed on.  I can only twist things so far.”

“It’s your job to show the people the truth,” snapped Luco. “This sort of thing is your area.”

“I’m not omnipotent.  I can’t change people’s minds,” said Bethai and then looked over at Aita who cocked her head to the side and then shrugged. “There’s one other problem.  The girl in question is rooted.”

“What?” shouted Luco. “She’s as good as a bender.”

“Excuse me?” hissed Aita. “I’m rooted.  A highly functioning one to be sure, but I consider the fact I didn’t receive the ability to bend as I was meant to as a blessing.”

“I’m…” Luco blushed and seemed unsure how to respond until Bethai snorted.

“Don’t be an idiot Luco,” said Bethai. “People who are rooted would never be as lucid as her.  My girl is lucid, and she still gets so caught up in the waves as the earth so often that she needs a handler.  Spirit was probably pointing out that anyone who was rooted would be insulted by your accusations.  Being rooted is not a gift; it traps you in the very being of element you were supposed to bend.  Yes, it takes away the corruption that bending causes within a person, but it separates them almost completely from reality.”

“I know what it means.  It is obviously a curse,” said Luco.

“But not one that hurts only the recipient,” said Amon. “Still, it sounds like a hard way to live.  Have her brought to me or Spirit when you think it’s safe and we’ll see if we can introduce her to the real world.”

“Is that really the best way to use our resources?” asked Luco.  Everyone in the room looked toward him and Lee even sighed and shook his head.  Luco huffed and with an irritated flare of his arms he stormed out of the room.  Amon signaled and Aita tried to follow Luco.  The girl glared at Luco, she didn’t see why she was the best choice to try and reason with Luco.  As she walked forward her feet slipped from under her, and her hands slipped on some ice.

“It’s not cold enough,” said Aita.  Lee hurried over to her and touched the ground.

“It not safe here,” said Lee.

“Are you sure?  It seems odd that a water bender would just litter the floor with ice,” said Bethai.

“We haven’t used this spot in a while.  Only training and some assembly has been going on.  The students wear masks so they’ll be partially safe, but the workers…” Amon sighed and shook his head. “Lee meet me at the town house.  Spirit, you know anything about these types of transmitters?”

“They’re built to be less detectable.  Usually they’re in a more secure location, like a corner or somewhere slipping on it wouldn’t be possible,” said Aita.

“There was a rug, but it got blood on it and we had it removed to be burned earlier today,” said Lee with a shrug.

“Are you trying to make my life more difficult?” asked Bethai and then held up a hand to stop Lee from giving his excuse. “I don’t want to know, and if I do I don’t think it’s best to do it here at the present moment.  Amon, be in touch.”

“Try to come up with something for the children if it’s not already too late that we haven’t discussed,” said Amon. “We’ll also need to transport  the gloves and as much

“It’s not too late, and I’ll be in contact,” said Bethai, before leaving.

“I don’t understand,” said Aita as she tried to see where the ice went. Unfortunately the room wasn’t well lighted and it only reflected her mask and the lamp back at her.  “This isn’t a good spot.  Even if the rug hid it, the cloth would have dampened the vibrations, probably to the point that it would have been impossible to make out what we were saying.”

“It’s too risky,” said Amon. “Spirit I’ll see you tomorrow at the outskirts.   Thankfully we don’t use this spot for much besides assembly and training.  I think most of our other areas of operations are secure.  Be sure to warn Rebc when you see her Spirit, you’ll probably see her first if past experience has taught me.”

Spirit bowed.  She wanted to go with Amon and Lee; still, it wasn’t like they were doing much.  As they started to work toward the Amon’s true introduction at the Pro-bending final match.  Aita had heard that Balin and Mako couldn’t make it because they couldn’t get the cash.  Sota had wanted to sponsor them, or at least give Bolin a job, but they didn’t have the cash to really help.  She was glad, though they probably would have tickets.  At least they would see Amon’s great introduction. 

Her own part wasn’t going to be as flashy.  She’d never stand up in front of a crowd and make grand speeches or ever stand directly next to him while he spoke of their drive and beliefs.  She’d always be a shadow.  Something the flashed in the mind.  Something that dogged Amon’s step and worked in the dirt and dark of the world.  While he would always be in control of the situation, surrounded by followers and warriors, she’d be in the thick of things when they had a chance to go all wrong.  She’d lead, but at the same time be open for an attack in away that the Revolution would never allow him to be vulnerable.  Amon encouraged this.  He needed to be untouchable, even when he was getting his hands dirty he needed to seem invincible; it was part of his charm.  Aita wasn’t as invulnerable.  She’d been hurt, she’d trained with a good part of the soldiers.  She was real in a sense that Amon couldn’t be, grounded even though with her mask. 

Aita sighed as she stashed her black clothes and started to untie her braid and running her hand through her long dark brown hair.  She might be a shadow, but people talked to her.  Hell, even being silent most of the time, Spirit had tons of soldiers and comrades come up to just chat, even though half the time she disappeared near the end of the conversation. It was confusing.  A mask should create a barrier.  Tozen’s students had even accepted her, not treating her with the distain they’d displayed before when they thought she Amon’s whore, but not with the same reverence they showed Tozen.  She led them on minor raids and missions, and they followed her without question.  But at practice and lulls between meetings and missions, they treated her like a comrade.  They still listened to her when she barked an order, but treated her like they treated each other at all other times.

“Where were you?” asked Sota as Aita dropped from the window and into bed with her twin brother.

“None of your business,” said Aita as she wedged herself behind her and then curled facing the wall.  Sota snuggled the covers from her. 

“There’s no way your meeting took that long,” said Sota.  Aita wished her brother would shut up.  Yuaa was in the tattle-tale part of her development and wouldn’t pause to rat her half-sister out for staying out all night.

“I don’t have the group meeting until tonight,” whispered Aita, turning so she could give him a slight massage.  That always got him to sleep faster.

“Right?  So what did you do after?  Lead them on a spirit hunt?  They’re caretakers are going to kill you,” said Soka.

“Shut up,” muttered Luio.  And the twins instantly did so.  Sota fell asleep soon after and Aita found herself drifting after a few minutes. 

\---

“He is completely unreasonable.  Calling me at the most outlandish hour and telling me that I have to open the Burbank facility.  That was up for demolition.  Do you the kind of bullshit I had to pull out of my ass to explain to the board that I’d found a suitable company to operate there?  Amon better be ready to pay out his nose for this.  I’m sticking my neck on the line by letting you people operate there.  Right in the middle of the fucking city making those things.  If they find out, everyone’s going to look at me?  That’ll ruin me, I’ll have to go into hiding with Amon and it’ll break my poor das heart and all because you people,” shouted Rebc.

“It’s your cause too,” Aita said calmly as she shifted against the concrete wall.  One of the masked soldiers caught her eye, and she glared at him as it was obvious he was holding in laughter.  Not that he could see her expression with her mask.

“Of course it’s my cause too,” said Rebc, her face rapidly turning red. “But I have to think about business.  Amon is so damn expansive.  We have to have all these expensive plans.  Even with some of our supporters, our funds aren’t bottomless, and people like me can’t just make money disappear from the flow.  I’ll have to invest some in my company if only to keep eyes away from us.”

Aita sighed and stood so she could a hand on the other woman’s shoulder. 

“What are we going to with him Spirit?  You think you couldn’t sweet talk him out of any really expensive ventures after this last one?  I mean, he has to have some vulnerable time. You know,” said Rebc with a wink.  Aita just stared at her in a way that she hoped conveyed her annoyance. “I suppose he is rather stubborn.  Showing the world what bullies benders are is all well and good, but we have to do things practically.   Our great and powerful ruler doesn’t seem to have a practical bone in his body.  Did you hear that he was considering going out into the open?  Why?  Bethai should have hogged tied him for even suggesting such a thing.  Wasn’t letting the avatar get away and tell the world about his power.  We can keep operating like that right?”

“Bethai agrees with the plan.  The incident yesterday was the only setback,” said Aita with a shrug.

“Has that old hag gone mad?” demanded Rebc and then as she seemed to melt into the ground.  Aita wasn’t sure how to confirm or anything as she watched the woman sink to the ground. 

The music in the background faded and Amon’s voice came on air. 

“Hello fellow Equalists,” and with those opening words every person on the floor had huddled around the radio.  Aita watched as his words inspired awe in all those present.  They clung to his words like starving wolves.  Aita shivered as he announced that he now had an entire taskforce out to take him down and had become public enemy number one.  Still, it was quite the achievement.  One that Amon would want her to celebrate.  This city was ruled by benders, if they declared a nonbender public enemy number one than that was a compliment in and of itself.  It was also progress.

Still, this was all happening so fast.  Perhaps it was just her persona.  She didn’t shy from the light, especially among her comrades, but she didn’t purposefully go and make a spectacle of herself.  She realized that a true revolution, they would eventually have to take the war more public, but this just seemed to soon to her.  They should be further along, have the unveiling be more of a confirmation that they were taking over power from the benders.  This seemed premature.  But Bethai thought that this was the right time, that it would show their followers their conviction and power, giving those following them strength, gaining even more followers through their message, and driving fear into the hearts of their enemies.

“You think he’s going to be doing this more often?” asked one of the soldiers. Rebc snorted.

“Course he is.  He loves being in the spotlight,” said Rebc as she adjusted her mask. “And with that happy declaration, I’ll be good.”

“Worried about your image?” sneered one of the recruits, thankfully he was close enough that Aita could jab him.

“Always,” said the woman with a shake of her head. “You be sure to tell Amon what I think of this recent development, alright Spirit?”

Aita bowed and the woman stomped off. 

“You want to train with us Spirit?  We could really use some pointers for the new techniques,” said one of the recruits, soldiers, whatever, one of the new guys. “Dou says that the movement is sorta like bending.”

He then made a crude punching movement, which really could have come from almost any sort of fighting style it was so generic.  Aita bit back a laugh.

“It’s definitely not as graceful as chi blocking,” she commented softly.  The boy looks put out a little and Aita glances around.  People are watching them, even the ones who are pretending to get back to their training.  A couple of women stand near them, seeming to stand in support of Aita, though she doesn’t understand why.  It’s just their body language that conveys the tone.  Finally Aita sighs and chuckles under her breath.  She doesn’t really need sleep.  It’s overrated, plus she really should get used to surviving without it as the Revolution continues to grow in strength.  She should also start severing the ties with her friends and family.  She should be making plans on how to take her brother’s bending without completely devastating him or causing a rift between them that couldn’t be fixed.

“I guess I understand.  Is Amon going to going to be here later?” asked the man.

“Probably not, he’s most likely going to be with the guys on a high the rest of the day,” sighed Aita and then rolled her eyes at the boy’s incredulous expression.  Really, the mask did nothing to disguise what they were feeling. “He’ll need to cement and discuss the effects that the impromptu speech will have on the populace.”

“This wasn’t planned?” asked another trainee.  Aita frowned and shrugged. They’d been tinkering with the idea for a while.  They’d even got someone into that sort of thing on their side, but she hadn’t thought that they had made any breakthroughs.  Amon usually went through his speeches first with Bethai so she could correct him on any ‘unnecessary flourishes’ and then to Aita who half the time couldn’t make it to a meeting and the other half she had to be alert while he was giving his big speech.  That’s where her sitting at his feet thing started.  It was more of a joke, he had been almost nervous the first time, so she sat on the ground and when he asked what she was doing she said she was a ‘grade A student waiting breathlessly for her teacher to give his lecture.  Amon had laughed and it had become tradition for him to read her any speech before he gave it.

“Alright kids, that’s enough of that.  We need to train so we can live up to Amon’s words.  Let’s get back to training,” shouted Dou.  Apparently he’d taken his role as a trainer to heart. 

She followed the soldiers, getting a surprised look from the guy and then woman touched her shoulder as they flanked her and took stances.  It turned out that the movements for fighting with the gloves was very basic, this was all they really needed to train and it was about two weeks before the championship.

Soon Dou had pulled her from the group to help guide the students.  They stood in pairs now, simulating wearing the gloves.  The gloves, while much easier to hide and carry then the old batons that’s power source amounted to a small backpack.  The gloves held their own charge, though how it worked completely escaped Aita.  Though, she’d never really understood modern tech.

They had to be careful with the gloves.  Aita had understood there were similar problems with the batons.  The charge was like hitting someone with lightning, a technique that when used by firebenders was considered dangerous and excessive, it’s why you hardly ever used lightning in matches and it was almost always considered excessive brutality by the judges.  The gloves held less power than a bender, but they were still dangerous.  A hit in the wrong area with too much strength and it could kill someone. 

So Dou lectured while Aita would stop some couples and demonstrate.  The soldiers picked up the lessons quickly.  All of them were fit.  The lessons had to verbally explain the differences between a bender in top form and a child, even those who bended but were fatter and frail.  The idea wasn’t to kill them, not yet at least.  Incapacitating them, that actually brought a different and more potent sort of fear to benders.  Death had always been present, it was a fear that benders and nonbenders had dealt with since the very beginning.  Since benders had learned their arts, this was the first time they were experiencing their bending taken away from them.  It frightened them in a new way.  She’d heard whispers that taking away bending was like taking out a part of their souls. 

Aita thought that was a little overly dramatic, but whatever.  By three everyone was starting to reach their limit.  No one got paid for their part in the Revolution, though she heard some of the less fortunate ones got jobs through the connections the Revolution had.  She sat them down, got some of the newer recruits to get everyone coffee and started teaching them signals they’d need.  She said more than she felt she’d ever said as Spirit, but at the same time, they were only words, phrases, and explanations of tactics that they employed.  She wasn’t one to talk on missions; the people she worked with on retrievals already knew the basics, but now that she had a small army she’d have to teach all of them and come up with as many new ones as possible so she could continue to work in mostly silence.

Though she did feel stupid talking to the crowd.  Her loud whisper had to be turned into this raspy harsh noise that made even her want to wince at even as she spoke slowly and annunciated as well as she could so they could understand her.  She still felt like an idiot. 

It was five by the time they finally split up.  It would take her thirty minutes to get home.  Not really worth it since they started opening at seven.  She could head to the store, but that was only fifteen minutes away.  Her favorite coffee shop didn’t open for another forty-five minutes, and she wasn’t drinking another one whatever she’d been drinking all night.  It almost made her want to get off coffee. 

“Spirit, you’re still here?” asked Amon as he entered, flanked by Lee and a very excited looking young man. “This is Siato, he’s the one that made it possible for me to talk over the radio today.”

“It was nothing, I just had to…” and then he babbled.  Aita heard Air waves and maybe one other word she recognized as the new guy, Siato talked in a language she could even start to decipher.

“I think that’s enough for now.  We all need to get some rest after a night like that,” said Lee, leading Siato away to Aita’s pleasure. 

“I am surprised you’re still here Spirit,” said Amon.

“Training,” said Aita with a shrug. 

“I am glad to see you here.  Be sure to get rest though, I want you well rested for the Pro-bending tournament,” said Amon. 

“That is still a good deal away,” Aita pointed out.  Amon patted her on her masked cheek.  She was sure it wasn’t supposed to be patronizing, but it felt like it was. “And why did you bother Rebc with the factory thing?  We could have easily moved the production to Sato’s underground factory where it should have been going on in the first place.”

“The space is being used to create the…” Amon paused.

“Robot Suites,” said Aita dryly and she saw Amon try to suppress a flinch.  They’d have to think of a new name for them and then get Sato to start using it.  Why couldn’t the man just be as conceited as he was before?  He hadn’t had any problem calling his machine “satomobiles” couldn’t he come up with something like that?  At least it didn’t sound completely retarded.

“They will be of great use against the benders.  The prototype is being going to be tested within the week,” said Amon. 

“Right,” said Aita, leveling a hand to her forehead.  Amon took her hands in his.

“Do you need a place to stay?” he asked.  He asked every once in a while.  She’d said something stupid once and he now he wasn’t sure if she was in trouble at home or not.  She hadn’t meant anything of it.  Half of what she said when she was trying to get a reaction was a lie, and the rest of the time it was a half lie.  Amon knew that, but it was nice to know he cared enough to worry that what she’d said was true. 

“No, I have to get to work,” said Aita.  He nodded and they parted ways.

The rest of the week went by in a haze.  She hardly got any sleep.  Her brother even started to get legitimately worried and sent her home early.  Not that it really helped.  Later that night they found out that the avatar would be joining the task force set up by Tarrlok. The next night the avatar and Tarrlok had attacked one of their more minor training facilities.  No one important were captured.  But the loss was heavily felt.  These weren’t citizens, but only two of them had been two fully trained soldiers.  The others were mostly bodies, supporters that worked in the factories or guarded the door at rallies. 

Amon had come to where the troops were honing their skills with Tozen. 

“Did you hear that?” asked her brother.  Aita ran a hand through her hair and glared at the chirpy twin. “The avatar just challenged Amon to a battle between just the two of them.  He has to respond.”

“It’s too soon,” said Aita.  Her brother looked at her and she blushed. “Sorry, still in the spirit world.”

“You think that the avatar will die?” asked Sota.  Aita scrunched up her nose and then pretended to sneeze hoping her brother hadn’t seen the look of disgust.

“Don’t be ridiculous.  I think that Amon will think it’s too soon,” said Aita.

“Why?” asked Sato. The door rang and they had to pause.  One of the earth bender girl’s that skipped her way past their shop everyday for school came in and put her cash in Aita’s bowl before holding out her hand.

“Why?” asked Sota when they had left.  Aita adjusted her hat before glaring at her brother and then sighing. 

“If she dies now it will cause the people to rally behind her name,” said Aita with a shrug.

“They’ll rally for her anyway.  She’s the avatar.  She’s going to inspire people to stand up against the terrorists,” said Sota, punching the air with his fists.  Aita just shook her head.

“That’s all I got.  It’s not as if the spirits can get into his mind,” said Aita with a shrug.  She brought a hand to her head.  Her brother looked at her in concern.

“You getting headaches again?” he asked.

“It’s fine, just haven’t been getting enough sleep,” said Aita.  

“What have you been doing at night?” asked Sota, sounding an awful lot like a broken record.

“Getting in trouble.  It’s almost time to start closing up,” she said.

“Aita,” whined Sota.

“You can close up by yourself, right?” she asked, taking off the costume and putting it in the closet.

“Why do I always have to close?” he whined.

“Because I always open,” said Aita. “You know, my part of the store is starting to look like a cheap fortune booth.”

“The entire store is yours,” grumbled Sato. “Maybe we’ll be a spirit store next.”

“They’re called spirit world shops,” said Aita. “And I think we should get some more candy in the shop.”

“The parents are complaining their kids are wasting all their pocket changed on sweets,” said Sota.

“That’s the point,” said Aita with a sigh. “If it actually seems like we’re going to lose customers we can put in a few ‘healthy’ snacks or put the candy to the back of the store.  But it doesn’t make sense to get rid of one of our best selling items because some parents don’t approve of their kids spending habits.”

“We could raise prices,” said Sota.

“And encourage them to go somewhere else for their sweets?” said Aita. “I’ll check the competition, but I think we’re a little better priced and we make plenty of money on the candy.”

With that she left.  Her brother shouting after her.  Around the corner she caught the eye of a couple of boys who used to go to school with her.  They smirked and she changed direction.  Bullies, the worse kind in her mind, they didn’t go after the weak nerds or slightly eccentric social outcastes.  They went for those that couldn’t defend themselves at all from their attacks.  People who were child minded, fast tracked, and rooted. 

Thankfully she could avoid them now a days.  Plus, she couldn’t really remember them in school all that well.  They had all but one of them moved to a slightly better district around fifth grade, and anytime before that, before she met Tenzin, was just a blur.  Now they dogged her every once in a while.  They knew she fought like a firebender, though since she didn’t know if someone will eventually see her and identify that she fought like a bender, Aita had to fight poorly.  She didn’t use her tricks or skills to make it seem like she is bending, she fought like a nonbender who was taught firebending but had none.  Which only sounds like the same thing to the untrained ear.

She quickly dodged through the side streets and once she was sure she’d lost the bullies, she went to the one where she’d hidden her stuff.  So much for arriving to see Amon early.

“Spirit, we have a door, you were getting so good at using them too,” said Amon as he opened the cracked window to let her in.  She nodded at him and then glared through her mask at Tozen, who seemed jumpy.  He’d practically broken the window with the kick he’d given it when Aita had tapped on the glass.

“Worried about Amon’s response to the summons?” asked Bethai, a cigarette trailing smoke as she gripped it gently between two fingers.  Aita nodded. “He’s going.”

“A trap?” asked Aita.

“Not the avatars style from what I can tell,” said Bethai, “but definitely something Tarrlok would think up.  I’d suggest leaving this alone.”

Aita watched as Amon paced, not really looking at anyone in the room.  Silence fell, and Aita wondered what had happened that left Luco silent through all this.  It was his area for one thing.  Amon stopped and turned to Luco.

“I cannot fight her now.  She’ll become a martyr and we will become the villains,” said Amon.

“We’re already the villains in the eyes of most of the city,” said Lee.

“But not to most of the nonbenders,” said Luco. “Amon is right.  The avatar is young and only trying to do what she believes to be her job.  She will become a symbol for the benders to rally behind.  No, we need to show her our power, show her our conviction and the corruption of this city and its benders.  We need to be at the peak of our takeover of this city before we cement it with her death.”

“You could take her bending,” said Lee.

“That would be worse,” said Luco.

“Agreed,” said Bethai.  Amon sighed and nodded. 

“But I need to clear the air with the avatar, tell her the chorography to our dance,” said Amon with finality.  No one said anything. “Luco and Spirit, get an elite team that works well with the ropes ready.  Get the avatar into a spot still on the island, vulnerable, and I’ll explain our situation to her.”

He sounded angry. 

Both Luco and Aita hurried out.  Luco had on a full mask so Aita couldn’t see any of his face.  She touched her own white one.  It was amazing how far they’d come in such a short time, but in some ways it was the short time that worried Aita.  Before Tozen it was common for them to train without masks, and when they carried out missions they usually only wore half masks, they only started wearing goggles after they started using gas bombs. 

They gathered the group and Luco went through the plans with them, every once in a while looking for Aita’s input, but it was rather simple.  The hardest part was getting the men on the island without anyone seeing them.  The two boats they took couldn’t have any lighting, and they had to head first to the opposite side of the city so the air temple island wouldn’t get in the way. 

Amon sat in the middle and there was this strained, tense atmosphere that had their soldiers staring into the dark abyss while Aita and Amon seemed to stare at each other, though half the time Aita had her eyes closed, just allowing the undulation of the boat to calm her nerves.  Amon was probably looking through her. 

The avatar was already there, waiting in the open as their group hid in the shadows.  Aita shifted the metal coils in her hands as she took her place.  They had an hour before midnight.  Why did the avatar want to fight in the dark anyway?  The moon wasn’t that bright, and if Amon drew her into the building than she be practically blind.  Aita wondered if Bolin now idealized this girl.  She looked gruff; the sort of rough girl Bolin treated more like a guy and was confused why he did so.  Being saved by her probably hadn’t helped. 

The clock chimed, Aita jumped in surprise.  It took her an extra moment to drop down to position, give the signal, and catch the avatar as she was walking past the door.  She gave a bit of a fight, flashes of light illuminating Aita’s soldiers for a few moments before Aita got one arm in a tight hold with her metal rope and another soldier caught her other arm and the two of her comrades caught the avatar along her body, hitting chi points with ease.

The girl was scared shitless, that was clear.  Aita could feel the tremors as she held the girl’s arms.  The avatar had passed out, just for a second.  Amon walked forward, a light illuminating the space giving a sort of scary play of shadows over the area.  Amon reached foreward, getting a flinch from the avatar as she shook harder in Aita’s grasp.  Amon was angry, even as he kept his tone calm and level equal.  Still, his words were smooth and even.  As he struck the avatar and she fell something ran along Aita’s consciousness.  An opening.  As Aita allowed the avatar to fall to the ground she couldn’t help but stare.  She hadn’t seen it at first, when she was Spirit she divorced herself as well as she could from the spirit world.  She had to.  She couldn’t space out or see things of no real consequence and act like they were there on missions, but the avatar was supposed to be the bridge between their two worlds, but something was wrong, just by a brush of her power, Aita could feel that something was blocking a path.

Unfortunetly actually going in and looking at the problem would look suspicious, and Amon was already turning to see what was taking his Spirit so long.  So Aita tried to throw the remnants of the spirit world out of her head.  She messed around with the avatars connection to the spirit world and she’d probably end up helping the twit, so best she just left it alone for now.  Amon nodded as she came to him and then they left by the boats, thankfully they weren’t caught, Aita was surprised alarms hadn’t gone up already.  Maybe they thought Amon had been a no show and the avatar was going to head back soon.

Still, they needed to get back to their current base before the sweeps started.  Any plans they had for the night were shot, and they’re going to have to send plain clothe men into the street with a reason to be there to make sure all activity was halted for the rest of the night.  And yet, this night still felt like a victory anyway.  Amon was no longer pissed off, and as he exited the boat offered a hand to help Spirit out, he almost seemed proud.  As if this little session has turned from an annoying hiccup into a crowning point on his way to victory. 

Maybe he just liked the look of fear in the avatars eyes.

“You should sleep,” said Amon as they walk up towards his office.  Aita blinked, she was leaning against Amon.  She tried to push away from him.  When had she started using Amon as a walking stick?  Not through the city, they had to be careful to keep to the shadows and apart than.  There had been metalbending cops everywhere.  Amon tugged her back to lean against him, leaving his hand on her shoulder so she knew she was trapped there.

“Debrief,” said Aita slowly and yawned. “Then sleep, promise.”

Amon sighed, but didn’t try to fight her.  Aita was glad.  The coffee she’d been drinking for the last week seemed to have worn out and the adrenaline from the confrontation with the avatar and dodging the cops had been used up.  Now she hardly wanted to move, let alone make the trek back to hide her clothes and then sneak into bed with her brother. 

Amon led her to sit on the chair at his desk before he went off to find the rest.  Aita put her head on the table; she’d just close her eyes for a moment.

The next thing Aita vaguely remembered was someone taking off her boots and outer dark clothes but being careful to leave her mask in place, then they tucked her in, but she reached out, assuming whoever it was was her brother.

“Stay, time to sleep,” she said in her best sister voice.  The person hesitated, then the sound of scuffling inside shoes reached her ears and a warm body got into bed with her.  Aita smiled and curled into her brother.  She’d blame sleepiness on her actions in the morning, and she completely failed to realize that the person in her bed was a good foot taller than her brother as she drifted back to sleep. 


	5. The Execution of Earth, Fire, and Water

Aita had been grounded.  She ignored the grounding.  Her stepfather really couldn’t control her life anymore.  The equalist would have moved out if she had been allowed to receive a decent wage from working at the store, but her stepfather technically owned the store, and her begging and threats fell on deaf cars even when suggested he could sell her the store and technically still have her under his thumb  until she paid him back.  Aita would have liked to have gotten a job somewhere else by now and moved into an apartment as far away from her ‘family’ as possible and dragged her brother kicking and screaming with her. But she didn’t have the time for anything ‘real world’. 

The Revolution ate up all the free time she had outside the shop.  So she ignored her stepfather’s restrictions and he burned half her wardrobe.  She hid the rest of her stuff under a loose floorboard in the store, and she’s shredded his pants when he commanded her to do the laundry so she could ‘pitch in for the family’.

Aita’s mother was being unbelievably patronizing, blaming the fight equally between her husband and daughter.  Aita hated the woman, in some ways more than she hated her stepfather.  So she cut all the ties with her family as well as she could.  Aita still talked to her brother, as long as he didn’t bring them up, and she still slept a couple of hours with him at night, but she kept to herself on the few time she did have free time and she skipped mid week meals.  Before her, no one skipped midweek meals unless they were near death or the world was ending.  It just wasn’t done.  Aita was almost surprised how easy it was to skip.  She’d half expected her mother to storm in while she was working and read her the riot act.  Instead, her mother now actively ignored her.  Aita saw that as an improvement.

“Where are you little pretender?” rang a voice through the electrical plant.  Aita rolled her eyes.  Why did it seem like whenever someone saw her as Spirit they thought she was pretending to be an Amon clone? “Come on dear little equalist, I’ll be sure to make your death quick.”

Aita wished she could make his death quick.  Sometime after Amon and him spent the night in the same bed (something that Lee wouldn’t let her forget about with his knowing smiles). Amon had come told her her next assignment.  She was to assassinate a bender from each element who had gotten away with murdering nonbenders.  Amon wanted her to do it without first taking away their bending.  He said they’d reveal her ability to take bending later so it would seem as if the skill was teachable and the city would start worrying about all of the equalists learning the skill.  He also wanted her to show off their power, which meant that assignation had to be more than a quick slip to the throat or a shot from a distance.  

A blast of fire caught Aita off guard.  Her shoulder burned as she cursed.  How was she supposed to kill him with his own element?  Making that teacher crush himself the other night had almost been impossible, and it had been mostly an accident.  The assassination hadn’t made too much news as a consequence.  Things like that happened, and the man hadn’t been known for being too bright.  Well, he was good at math, but anything else, like common decency and watching where he was going had always escaped him, or so the rumor mill supplied.  All Aita had to know is that he had been part of the Triple Threat Triad when he was a boy and, well, the least said about the action of that particular gang when they dealt with ‘problems’ the better.

Aita swung herself up onto some machinery as a blast of fire struck the metal just below her.  She knew what she was looking for, but couldn’t quite remember where it was.  A bolt of lightning flash before her eyes and Aita swerved off to one side, bored that the serial killer would get paranoid and kill her.  That was this firebender’s sin.  He went around murdering nonbenders, claiming each murder had been in self-defense against freedom fighters.  At least, that was his claim in court when he was caught, and he was let free every time. 

Aita dropped to the ground and almost caught her bad shoulder.  She twisted away from the next attack and took out a small dagger.  Most elements were impossible to control for a nonbender, especially against a bender of the element’s persuasion.  But lightning was different; firebenders couldn’t get complete control over lightning.  They could create with it, direct it, and the best could take it into themselves and redirect it using themselves as a vessel, but they couldn’t control it after it had left their body. 

So when her target lightning it her while they were rather close, she was able to attract the lightning with the blade and then throw it back with a technique Sensu had called Zuko’s folly.  Why it was called that, Aita didn’t know, but Sensu had assured her that anyone with her type of blade referred to the technique that way.  The blade itself was highly illegal and expensive. Sensu had given it to Aita hardly a year ago as a present. He said it was a sign that she was a proper warrior, graduated past his lessons and ready to expand her skills on her own.  Aita didn’t know what sort of money Sensu had used or what favors he called in to get the blade, but she was eternally grateful for the gift.  It gave her an edge over firebenders and she didn’t have resort to using electrical batons or gloves, and the best part was that most people didn’t even know the type of knife existed and Aita could pass it off as a simple knife when she wasn’t dressed as Spirit.

“You know that they’ll never accept you as long as you’re a bender, right?” demanded the man.  Aita ignored the intended barb and ducked under a desk to dodge the next spray of fire the man threw her way.  She could hear him gasping behind her.  Aita was getting a little winded too.  She had been running ever since she’d gotten his attention what felt like hours ago.  She knew what she was looking for; she just wasn’t sure where it was.  She saw a grated floor with two tall pillars and a large lever to the side.  That looked promising. 

Aita skidded to a halt and struck out of his arm at the man as a hot hand snatched at her lower arm.  With a hiss of pain she jabbed at knee and then took off slightly to the right of where she’d been running before.  The man swore and threw his hand toward ineffectually.  It was amazing how many benders forgot that they lost their ability to bend longer than their limbs were paralyzed.  Still, he ran after her.  Aita unhooked the metal coil she’d kept around her and started spinning the end, her eyes glued to where the lever was.  She turned and threw the coil so it curled around the man.  He swore and she turned as fast as she could, continuing to drag him forward and also knock him off his feet.

The lever didn’t give under her initial try, there some other catch holding it in place.  She quickly flipped it with her foot and then pulled the lever before the firebender could see what she was doing and somehow devise a way to either get away or control the fire that then spurted from the ground and ceiling in a hot wave that left Aita gasping for breath and feeling a little scorched. 

Aita turned to lean against the metal, gasping and trying to regain her breath.  A smell caught her nose and she turned to see… Aita gulped and then after a second of holding her breath and she threw up.  Spirits, a burned body should not smell like that.  Aita made her way out the factory; she didn’t even try to hide as she left.  That had disgusting.  She thought it was bad enough hearing someone getting crushed and seeing the blood afterwards, but this was something else entirely, and worse in away Aita didn’t quite understand.  Aita missed the days where her assassinations were few, far in between, and done in dark with quick precision.  But, for now, she needed to get her arm and shoulder checked, or at least wrapped. 

Orlang thankfully hadn’t left for the night to do her check up on the troops, and only seemed mildly surprised when she found Aita rooting through her stuff for some burn cream.

“Why do you keep moving things?” asked Aita as the woman pushed her onto the examining chair.  Orlang had this air about her as if the leader was almost moments away from speaking but needed the right trigger to start talking.  From Aita’s experience, it wasn’t just her that felt this way.  She’d seen her comrades, even the most taciturn, start to natter away as soon as Orlang turned her attention on them.  But all the women ever talked about was related to her patients health.  Whether it was asking how a scar was acquired, how to take care of a wound, diet plans, lifestyles changes, or how to prevent injuries.  She never told them to stop working as Amon’s soldiers, but she often implied that they should try to be better at their job.

“You’ll get another burn scar out of this.  The one on your shoulder definitely, and the one on your arm might end up looking like a handprint,” said Orlang. 

“Wasn’t running far enough ahead and he caught my arm.  He threw his voice and he caught me in the shoulder with a blast of fire,” said Aita with a shrug.  Orlang liked to know where every scar came from.  She was a doctor that believed in preventing more scars and colds instead of just treating what came in front of her.

“And this one?” asked Orlang duly while poking at a scar hiding a little under her ribcage. 

“Not anything important,” said Aita happily.  Orlang would have no qualms telling Amon about Aita’s past with her family.  Orlang was the one that learned and reported most of the abuse victims to Amon and Bethai.  She was a nonbender healer, so she was poor with only nonbender clientele, but nonbenders were very protective of young nonbender even if they weren’t their own.  It wasn’t hard to learn that the next door neighbor was beating their kid, and easier to see when the authorities looked over the claim because the child was a nonbender.  They told Orlang, and Orlang passed on the information to Bethai.  Orlang didn’t put up with abuse.  She was known to instill guilt and crowbars into the middle of abusive relationships, and she could guilt trip even the most hardhearted father or mother.  It was a bit late to save Aita, but Orlang would make sure that Aita left her father’s home for good if the healer got any proof that Spirit had been or was still abused. 

“You’re clothes reek,” said Orlang, glancing at the pile of shirts that Aita had stripped off.  Aita felt exposed the first couple of times she’d come to Orlang.  She didn’t go to any doctors before; her mother had healed her as best she could.  And since her mother was a horrible healer, the treatments had only kept the worse of the infection at bay and the wounds from bleeding Aita dry. 

Plus, Aita was Spirit.  She wasn’t supposed to show fear or pain.  She had no past and she only existed within and for The Revolution.  She wore baggy dark clothes and a white mask that reflected Amon’s.  Even among the Equalists she was a mystery.  She never took her mask off, like others did, especially before Amon had started to make real waves within the city she had worn a mask fulltime when most only wore one if on a mission, though now no one went anywhere without a mask while working for the Revolution.  Aita never took off her mask as Spirit, and while she kept it on the few times she actually had to see Orlang, she always had to strip.  It was weird to reveal that much skin.  It seemed the same as revealing her face.

“I still have some clothes stashed here, right?” asked Aita.  The woman gave Aita a look as she wrapped the wounds. “I threw up when I saw the body.  Charred it up pretty well.  Could have also been that I ran for the last few hours.  Remind me to get floor plans before carrying out assassinations.”

“Strip off the rest of your clothes and leave them in the backroom.  I’ll be in bed by the time you change. Don’t worry, by the time you come back to switch clothing, I’ll have your stuff clean,” said Orlang while reaching for her pad and writing a quick note. “Here, this should help.”

Aita took the note and couldn’t help but cock her head in confusion.

“Thank you for the chicken scratch,” said Aita dryly. The woman sighed.

“It’s a tea.  It’s good for preventing nightmares.  Take it an hour before you sleep.  Or around midnight, and it should soften the content your mind creates,” said Orlang, Aita made a face behind her mask. “Ask Amon, I prescribed it for him too. And I know he takes it.”

Aita looked back at the sheet and folded it up. 

“Thank you,” said Aita and then headed for the backroom. The woman hummed and headed out the door.  Aita quickly changed into civilian clothes and then snuck out the window.  She would have to keep to the shadows for a few blocks before heading out into the crowd.  Not that there really was any crowd to get into.  Most of the people were drunks heading home or wherever they were resting their heads for the night.  She was heading past Narook’s Seaweed Noodlery when she saw Bolin at his usual table crying into a bowl of noodles.

She paused; she didn’t necessarily like the food here, and the place, for some reason, attracted a lot of pro-bending customers.  Still, it was Bolin, and he looked really upset.  Had his bending been taken away and she hadn’t realized it? She would have thought that she would know either by her connection or her brother.  But she’d been so busy lately, there was a chance that she had just let the information wash over her without processing any of it. 

Narook waved pleasantly at Aita, as she stepped into the store.  She nodded to him with a smile before heading over to the wretchedly crying Bolin.  He wailed once before taking a long slurp, and even Pabu seemed to be trying to drown his sorrows, or at least fill his belly past bursting.  Aita sat opposite Bolin, a little surprised to find the boy so engrossed in his tears that he didn’t realize she was there at all, and watched him until the server gave her a bowl of noodles.

“I love how you never actually have to order here,” said Aita, wondering if her words would reach the grieving boy.  Bolin’s head jerked up at her, and he sniffed.  Tears, snot, and noodle juice slipped down his face in a rather grotesque, picturesque way.

“Aita, you won’t steal her away my girlfriend right?” asked Bolin almost drunkenly. “You only steal girls before their interested.  Traitor brother’s steal girlfriends they said weren’t people you make girlfriends out of and then kiss them in front of your eyes.  She was my girlfriend, we had a fun time.  I got her flowers.”

“It was only a matter of time,” sighed Aita.

“What?  My own brother isn’t supposed to do something that horrible!” shouted Bolin. “She’s fun and tough and beautiful and perfect.”

“Tough?”

“Korra,” said Bolin sadly.  Aita quickly stole away the mostly empty bowl of noodles before he shoved his face into it.

“One second, isn’t Korra the name of the avatar?” demanded Aita.  Bolin was crying too loudly to properly answer and instead bobbed his head up and down frantically. “But I’ve seen her, briefly, she seemed rough and tough.  You usually go for the thin and fragile type.”

“Hey, I go for the Pro-bending girls,” said Bolin, forgetting his misery for a second. 

“Only when you think I’m stealing them,” said Aita while rolling her eyes. “What made you go for the avatar?  Is it because she saved your life?”

“She’s my teammate,” said Bolin and Aita was glad she wasn’t eating her soup because she would have sprayed it everywhere.  Bolin didn’t seem to notice, or he wasn’t surprised that Aita didn’t know his teammate was the avatar and kept going. “And she’s… ever since I saw her.  She wasn’t like the other fangirls, and then she became part of the team.  She’s awesome.”

“She’s not too gruff and masculine for you?” asked Aita.

“No, she’s beautiful and wonderful. And unlike you, she knows how to flirt,” said Bolin.  Aita glared at him.  She would have given the finger, but Narook hadn’t taken well to the last time she’s sworn in his restaurant. “We had so much fun last night.  I don’t understand how they could do this to me.”

Bolin collapsed into tears and Aita huffed. At least he wasn’t traumatized over losing his bending.  Then he probably would be less, ridiculous.  More consumed with crushing grief.  The way he was wailing now was both heart wrenching and hysterical.  It was hard to take him seriously. 

“Leaves from the vines, fall so slow/ Like fragile, tiny shells,/Drifting in the foam,” sang Aita as she reached out and ruffled Bolin’s hair.

“Morning Narook,” Aita glanced over to see Mako walking in.  She removed her hand as Narook directed Mako over to their table.  The elder brother sighed when he saw the shape Bolin was in.  He nodded to Aita before turning back to his brother. “Come on.  Wake up.  I’m taking you home bro.”

“Don’t call me that.  You’re not my brother you’re a brother betrayer.  The only one I can trust is Pabu,” wailed Bolin overly dramatic. “Pabu loves me.”

“Hey,” said Aita.

“You’re a mess and we have the biggest math of our lives tonight,” said Mako, trying to sound patient.  Aita ate a little of her noodles.  She hadn’t realized it was so late.  She’d thought the bags under Bolin’s eyes were from crying, not sleep deprivation.  That meant Aita had caught Orlang as the healer was heading in for the day, not as she was leaving.  Orlang had probably been going to bed when she heard Aita sneak into her clinic. 

Which meant Aita really had been running around the factory for hours. 

“No, I’m not going anywhere with you, you traitor,” said Bolin, still failing to put any real weight behind his sadness as he acted to ridiculous.  Even the harsh sobs he let loose as his brother forced him over one shoulder and back to home made it seem like the brothers were part of a comedy act. 

“Put me down!” cried Bolin one last time as they excited the store.  Aita sighed, pushing her mostly empty bowl to the side and headed over to Narook.

“So, how much did those two owe?” she asked.

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

The next day, Aita sat poised next to Amon as the techs fiddled with the controls.  He’d be making his next big announcement, though Aita wasn’t sure what to think of it.  She’d started to try and focus on what her brother was saying about Pro-bending.  Turned out that Bolin and Mako really had gotten the avatar on their team, not only that, they were going to be the ones going up against the Wolfbats. 

Aita and her brother had closed up shop for the day, Sota claiming that there was no way he was missing his friend’s most important match.  That was worrying; Aita hadn’t known how to keep her brother away from the match.  She’d tried.  She’d pretended to see doom for the match in the future and advise him against going.  She’d gone so far as to actually get confirmation, even though that had given her a headache, but he left that morning intent on getting the best seat and sharing in the festivities.  Aita had slunk back to Amon.  She’d said her employer gave everyone the day off.  It actually wasn’t that unheard of, especially for small business and companies.  Less for shops, because they were hoping to sell to people who did get the day off, but among desk jobs it certainly wasn’t unheard of.

Aita was just grateful that Bolin and Mako’s team weren’t the focus of Amon’s attention yet.  He was much more interested in the Woftbats and using them as the way to show the people how corrupt the benders were.  The fact the avatar was on the team against them was more of an annoyance than a bonus.

“Good morning citizens Republic City.  This is Amon,” Aita shivered.  She had no doubt that after the last few city wide announcements (only three, attacking the council and avatar when they took their fight a step too far) that everyone knew what Amon sounded like.  He had a very distinct and chilling voice.  Aita loved it.  It spoke of power and conviction.  It drew people in just as well as his words.  And then he trashed talked Pro-bending.  Aita liked that part of the speech. 

“That should get their attention,” said Amon. “Bethai, has everything been taken care of.”

“The judges are paid off, and the Wolfbats will be more than grateful.  We can’t have them losing their final match, it might make them do something regrettable,” said Bethai. Aita cocked her head and tried not to shiver.  Where Amon was captivating like a gliding snake, Bethai often came across as evil, especially when carrying out her ideals.

“Perfect, Spirit and I will oversee the distribution of the gloves and then retire until the attack.  This must go off smoothly.  I expect everyone to be at their best when we confront the city,” said Amon.  Everyone nodded.  Bethai stood, stubbing out her cigarette as she left. 

They left the room, Luco yawning and heading out with the old hag.  Aita went to stand next to Amon, squeezing his shoulder as they went.  They both went to the main floor where they watched as they loaded boxes and started shipping them out.  Nondescript satomobiles would be dropping them off at various areas, and the gloves distributed in, well, not in glove form to say the least.  The boxes were marked under the cabbage corp logo, something Rebc had to find away to pull off, but thankfully since it had been Mr. Sato’s idea, Aita had not had to deal with that blowup from the woman. 

It wasn’t long before Lee gave them the good news.

“The council defied the threat.  They’re keeping the arena open,” said Lee.  Aita smiled from her perch on the rails and what little tension Amon had holding escaped in one thankful remark.

“Perfect, everything is going according to plan,” Lee nodded, but there was a moment of tension. 

“All officers of worth will be at the match. Do you want me to take of the final mark before the match?” asked Aita.  Lee jumped a little.  Aita glanced over at him.  She wasn’t even trying to blend in at the moment, sitting the way she was brought more attention to her than Amon’s silent vigil staring down at everyone from above should have.

“No, I want you fresh, and I know you spent all night with last minute training exercises.  I was serious about getting rested,” Amon said. “You too Lee.  We’ll meet at seven.”

“Of course,” said Lee and then winked at Aita.

“Spirit, shall we?” asked Amon.  Aita blushed, but once again, her body and mind was reminded it needed sleep, and instantly started shutting down. And once again she found herself slipping into the world of dreams before her body had stopped moving. 

“Come on Spirit, time to get up,” said Amon kindly as he shook Aita awake.  Aita groaned and batted at his hand.  The bed creaked underneath her, and she forced herself to sit up.  Amon was securing his mask, Aita blinked in surprise.  Had he really taken his mask off around her?  Then again, he was rather good at reading people.  They had only found a handful of traitors so far, and none of them had been anyone important.  There was Reina who worked under Bethai, and Claaret who used to be one of Sensu’s students.  But they were watched carefully.  Aita made sure to limit her time with Claaret.  She wasn’t sure she could even trust him when giving out orders, let alone not confront him as the chief’s spy. 

Aita picked at her clothing.  She didn’t feel like going to one of her hiding spots and switching the clothes.  Plus, she couldn’t change the ones underneath them, and they were the ones that really felt ‘slept’ in.

“Spirit, perhaps we should talk about-“

“Are you ready Amon?” asked a masked comrade in a spectacular moment of good timing.  Amon straightened and nodded and they were off. 

The match went off without a hitch.  The crowd reacted as it should and the announcer made it clear that the officials were allowing the cheating to happen.  Pro-bending was a terribly dull sport, and from Aita’s spot on the rafters the match was completely unimpressive. And then finally the Fire Ferrets lost, tossed over the side of the ring and into the water below.  Instantly Aita was alert and sending the signal.  Audience members quickly started to raise their collars and slip on their gloves.  It wasn’t long after that the sparks from the gloves connected with their intended victims started lighting up the stadium.  Aita smiled, but gulped when she saw Lee’s electrical batons light up the water where Bolin and Mako had fallen.  But they’d be alright, the electricity would knock them out and then her men would drag them in and tie them up. 

Amon wasn’t going to get his hands stained with blood unless he had to.  Both teams and everyone in the stadium remaining alive would show control and mercy.  It would be the perfect feat to show just how well they could and would control themselves and take out the bending population.  This was the true beginning to their war. 

The announcer was amusing though. 

And then Amon ascended from beneath the bending arena.  The leader of the wolfbats tried to put on a brave face.  But it was clear he’d been trained to fight in the arena and it was no time before he and his teammates were left defenseless in front of Amon.   

“Wait, please don’t do this,” the boy begged.  Aita clenched her fists as a vision of knife and blood filled her head.  She cursed, settling herself more firmly.  She’d had a migraine ever since this started and every time she had these visions it would get worse for an hour or so before going away. 

The Pro-benders were thrown into the water, and she saw Lee fishing around for those dropped in it.  Aita held a hand to her head, trying to keep the visions at bay even as they beat against her skull trying to get out. 

“I believe I have your attention benders of Republic City,” said Amon.  He really could be a bit petty in his speeches.  Aita knew well enough that Amon wanted this fight.  He wanted to defy the odds and take every benders power with squirms of rejection or tired pleas for their nightmares to be over.  He didn’t want all the benders in Republic City to just roll over and give up their powers.  No, he wanted to prove what nonbenders could do when they put their minds to it.  So he goaded the benders, made them angry while he also showed them what they had allowed themselves to become.  He spoke the truth, but he was also daring them to come and oppose him.  The warning was the same one as the one he’d given earlier that day.  He didn’t want them to be ideal and runaway, he wanted them to scrap by in the city, telling themselves that he was wrong and they could take him, while they feared his ever visiting them some dark night and stripping them of their power.  It was a hard line to walk, to keep the city from leaving in droves because he now had the ability to take away bending, but also strike fear into their hearts at ever having to meet him. 

Aita sighed as the speech continued on.  Amon would be interrupted, the first part of the speech was important, however much of the second part they got through would just be icing on the cake.  He did get them think about technology.  While it could lead to Sato, there was more evidence and ‘proof’ for the authorities to arrest Cabbage Corp for supporting Amon than there was for them to start doubting the man. 

He actually finished the actual speech, hopefully something would happen soon.  It would kind of be a letdown if there wasn’t any sort of retaliation from the benders.  A couple of them had to be starting to get their bearings back. 

The blimp threw down the metal and Aita grabbed onto one as it lifted.  Hopefully Bolin was only playing dead or Amon hadn’t made the entire arena explode so the pieces would crush the ones Lee had tied up underneath it. 

Aita was turning around and ready to reach out to Amon and take his hand when the avatar literally shot up from the ground so grab onto one of the metal wires.  How was that even remotely possible?

Amon calmly looked down on her even as she pulled back and let loose fire.  Not looking concerned at all as the blast knocked back half their comrades. Aita quickly sent down a couple of men since they couldn’t detach the coil easily at the moment and they easily got her off and onto the dome of the Pro-bending building.  Aita looked around at the destruction around the Pr-bending building and rolled her eyes.  She didn’t see how they could cause this much destruction and no one could hear Amon’s blimp taking down the Metalbenders ones.  They hadn’t exactly been that quiet and the match hadn’t been that loud. 

Somehow Lee got down on the dome and Aita cursed his stupidity.  The soldiers knew what they were getting into, but to lose a key player would hurt.  It would most assuredly hurt Lee.  And then Chief Beifong heading up with their coil and Aita cursed, signaling that the men should dislodge the rope if they could.  Amon held up a hand and the chief willingly turned around and to throw herself at the dome.  Aita sighed, confused but grateful.  The chief was a powerful bender after all, and it would have been a difficult fight even with the numbers staked against the woman. 

“What about Lee?” asked Aita.  Amon shook his head.

“Let me worry about that.  In this confusion we’ll be able set you down in the city and you can carry out your mission with no problem,” said Amon.

“He’s going to be on his guard,” said Aita.

“Not as he should be,” said Amon and then patted Aita’s shoulder. “Don’t worry.  You are my dagger.  I bring the benders mercy by taking away their horrible power.  You judge, and take the life of those beyond our help.”

“They won’t see it that way,” said Aita softly.

“They will in time.  I want you back by four to discuss our next move,” said Amon.

“Of course,” said Aita.

Once she was on the ground, it wasn’t hard to find the house she was looking for.  This man had money.  He was born to it, and he lived in luxury because of it.  Him and his waterbending wife had never wanted for anything.  The only thing they needed was a child.  But, it wasn’t for lack of trying that they didn’t have one.  They had four miscarriages, each around the time the child was showing in the womb, subsequently, the time a good healer would be able to tell if the child would be a bender or not. 

This was the man brought to attention by Orlang.  They couple had come into her practice under the need for privacy, and at least one of them hadn’t been expecting a nonbending healer to have the tools and knowledge to figure out if the babe is a bender.  Orlang said she now regrets telling them that they were going to have a nonbending child, especially since two days later the news of their forth miscarriage was revealed. While no healers would say that the other three had been strong, it was common knowledge because of the press that they had all been nonbenders.

Aita entered the dark house and snuck to the nearest bathroom and started running the tap. 

“Honey?” a male voice called through the house.  Aita left the water running, the tub now half full and pressed herself against the opposite wall so the man wouldn’t see her immediately see her when he entered the bathroom.  She then flicked on the lights.

“Honey is everything alright?” demanded the man as he started to jog up the stairs. 

When he entered the room, he seemed to freeze, mostly in confusion as to why the bathtub was filling but his wife wasn’t in sight.  Aita saw the moment where the man must have realized that what was going on didn’t quite add up.  The house was dark and the light had only been turned on when he got home.  Aita struck out fast, quickly hitting the chi points, but doing it so the man would fall into the bath, but also not use his water bending.  

As he fell in, Aita followed, making sure his shoulders and head were completely submerged.  Unfortunately she couldn’t turn him around.  Instead he stared at her, fear in his eyes, without any ability to move.   She kept jabbing him, a long line of marks that might bruise.  Did you get bruises after death?  Would they be able to tell that she had been jabbing him over and over again as she held him down?

“Like fragile tiny shells.”

Eventually the water started to overflow in the tub and turn cold as it soaked her legs and arms.  She stared into those eyes, switching between jabbing him and holding down his shoulders so his upper body stayed submerged in the water.  She didn’t know when his eyes turned glassy or he stopped breathing, but when the door opened again and it was the woman’s voice that floated to Aita.  The equalist knew it was time to make herself scarce. 

Aita was dripping wet, and there was something caught in her throat that hadn’t been there before the man’s murder.  But she had to get changed.  Get out of her clothes as Spirit and change her civilian clothes because they were also soaked.  Her brother might buy her not going to the match because Pro-bending bored her and even that she didn’t hear about the attack because she was off doing whatever, but he wouldn’t buy that she didn’t make an effort to go to the after party that was meant to celebrate the Fire Ferrets winning or cheer them up after being lost.  She had a little bit of a weakness for cake, and she did like the brother. 

Aita slipped on some clothes and picked up the cake from the sleepy person at the shop.  Thankfully it was staying up late for the match, and somehow they hadn’t heard about the attack.  At least it was people like this that gave Aita’s excuse credibility. 

“Hey Narook,” said Aita.  Narook smiled happily and Aita went to him so she could cut him a piece of cake.  Narook never closed, not even during storms.  His family lived to either side of the store, and there were plenty of family members to take over for him.  Everyone knew Narook’s dessert sucked, and as long as you shared some of what you brought than he was happy to let you bring in some of your own.  Narook’s cooks really could only do noodles. 

So Aita gave Narook a piece of cake and went to sit at the brother’s usual table.  She was sure Narook already knew of the attack.  His family would have told him at the very least, and since most of his customers were Pro-benders and fan of Pro-bending.  Aita didn’t know whether to be insulted the old man wasn’t telling her what happened, or to find it charming since he was old.  So she stayed there until one eating only one bowl of soup, which since they replaced a bowl every time you finished was rather impressive. 

“What are you doing here?” asked one of, what Aita assumed, Narook’s relatives. 

“I’m waiting for my brother,” said Aita. “Is the match happening still?  Do matches last this long?”

“There’s been an attack.  The Anti-bending Revolution attacked and took the bending away-“ and that was as far as the woman got before Aita was out the door.  It’s what she would have done if she just found out about an attack where her brother had been.  Yes, she was probably worrying Amon and her brother, but her brother should know where she was, and she could give an excuse to Amon. 

She ran into her house, her stepfather unfortunately was home for some reason.  Shouldn’t he have been called in to help with people rioting in the streets, or something that meant he didn’t make it home?  They stared at each other in shock for a second before stopping.  The kids peaked out the door before Aita’s stepfather shouted at them.  He’d been drinking again.

“Where’s your brother?” shouted the man.

“I don’t know.  I just found out about the attack,” shouted Aita.

“How could you have just found out about the attack?  It was huge!” shouted the man.

“Then what the hell are you doing here?  They fire you?” demanded Aita.

“The cities on lockdown,” shouted her stepfather.

“Then where’s my brother?” screamed Aita.

“If you’d listened to those spirits you’re so…”

“Where do you think I’ve been?” Aita demanded.  That actually caught him off guard, and the man blinked at her stupidly. 

“Then why didn’t they tell you what was going attack the stadium?” he hissed.

“I knew something bad was going to happen.  But nothing bad has this and Sato’s fine, wherever he is.  The Spirit’s could have sent me some kind of warning if anything had happened to him,” said Aita.

“You knew something and told no one?”

“I told Sato.  What?  Was I supposed to tell the authorities that they shouldn’t allow the match because I had a bad feeling about it from the spirit world?” demanded Aita. “Amon himself told the city the match was going to end badly and they still went ahead with it.”

“If you’d spoken to the air head-“

“Tenzin thinks of my gift as unreliable and mostly hallucinogenic.  He believes I see into the spirit world, he believes I can see truths, but he also thinks that the spirits like playing tricks with my perception and mind.  That’s why he taught me to block it out in the first place.”

“Then you shouldn’t be there.  You should be here and know your place and take care of your brother,” shouted the man. 

“I don’t have to listen to this.  I’ll go find brother before he’s really hurt,” hissed Aita.

“And how do you know he’s not?” asked her stepfather. “If the spirits are so unreliable how do you know he’s alright?”

“No, if he was hurt…”

“They took away people’s bending.  Those freaks…”

Aita felt her body tense.

“I don’t have time for this,” she growled, turning to leave.

“Listen you useless-“ her father caught her arm, and Aita flung it off with a snarl.  His expression became stormy and he struck out, catching Aita when she should have been paying attention.  He punched her shoulder, his aim off Aita guessed, and pain exploded as fire seemed to actually go through her shoulder.  Aita fell to the floor, grasping her bleeding shoulder and shuddering under the pain.  This was ten times worse than before.  It was the same shoulder as before, but unlike the burn the serial killer had given her this one was serious enough to cripple her, maybe kill her if she didn’t get it treated soon. 

“Dear,” came Aita’s mother hesitant voice as she looked in finally from her room.  Aita took that moment to run away.  She slammed the door behind her and tried to keep back the tears that wanted to fall.  The pain was intense; her stepfather had never hit her that hard with much force and fire before.  Either he was more drunk than usual, or he was furious.

Aita kept her head on well enough to get her dark clothes on.  The mask made her feel claustrophobic, and because she was bleeding so badly and hurt so badly, she wasn’t able to keep to the shadows as well as she usually was.  Aita shivered as she entered the training ground.  A couple of guards seemed on edge and were watching her suspiciously as she came in. 

“Spirit, are you here for training?” asked Tozen. Aita continued forward and then leaned against him, making the chi master jump in surprise. 

“Got in trouble,” she said in between gasps and then her world went black. 

“She’ll be fine, Amon.  Just don’t send her on any more dangerous missions for a couple of weeks,” said Orlang.  Aita groaned and tried to dig herself into the bed she was on. 

“Careful Spirit.  I’m here too,” said Lee.  Aita glanced over and then stared stupidly at Lee who was lying next to you.

“Sorry about the accommodations.  But we had Lee here to keep away from the general populace.  Something about moral,” said Orlang.  She pulled tighter than she should on Aita’s bandages and she hissed in pain.  She glared at the woman and then allowed her to be shifted. “Careful girl, the blankets were arranged to help keep your modesty.”

Aita blushed and quickly glared at Lee who seemed to be hogging the covers.

“You’ll be able to share them now.  Would you like to move to the cot now Lee?” asked Orlang.

“Yes, please,” said Lee with a pained gasp.  Aita shook her head, motioning that she would go.  The man cracked a smiled. “No, only one other person fits in a bed, and you cling to people when you sleep, which Amon confirmed.  That’s adorable by the way, but also means you need a bedmate.”

“It does not,” Aita muttered, but she was ignored. 

“And while it’s cute, if my wife finds out I’m sleeping with another girl, even if it’s just platonically, she’ll kill me.  And I think Amon is jealous of me taking his time to cuddle with you anyway,” said Lee.  Amon sighed this time.   Aita just rolled her eyes.  She wasn’t even allowed to help the other man.  She just hurt her shoulder. She told Orlang this.

“Yes, but you lost a lot of blood, that’s what caused you to collapse.  I’d setup a drip, but…” Orlang sighed and shook her head. “I’d suggest going to a waterbender if you want it to heal faster.  But since I can already feel Amon trying to bore holes into the back of my head, I’d instead suggest you take it easy for a few days, no missions for at least two weeks, and that you start seeing the trainers within three days so they can setup a schedule and workout routine that will help you mend properly.  Now, I’m sure I have more patients waiting to be seen by now.  I’ll leave you two in capable hands of our leader.”

The woman walked out with a flourish of her skirts.  Aita watched her and then jumped when Amon placed a cup of tea in her hands.  She blushed and let out a grateful sigh as he turned away from her and Lee rolled to look at the wall.  Still, she turned on her side, wincing as she supported herself on wall and her bad shoulder so she could sip at the tea.  It was the same fruity, sweet-bitter tasting stuff Tenzin would give her when her headaches became unbearable.  Aita sighed and took a long draft.  She hated the stuff.  She had developed a bit of a tolerance for it those few months she stayed at the Airtemple, but she couldn’t stand the taste, so she always chugged it. 

“Thank you,” she whispered as she placed the cup on the bedside table.  Amon turned toward her and took the cup back into the other room.  Lee’s snores started to fill the room.

“I hope you don’t mind us sharing a bed,” said Amon with a laugh that almost sounded nervous.  Aita shook her head.  Why would she mind?  They’d already shared a bed twice before, what was one more time? “Orlang suggested the tea.  She said you might have problems with nightmares.”

Aita internally cursed the woman’s meddling. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?  She said the wound was recent.  Did it really take you so long to assassinate Orgi?” asked Amon.

“Unless you want me drop my life, than I have a persona to keep up,” said Aita carefully.

“And this persona gets you hurt?” asked Amon.  Aita shook her head.

“It’s more complicated than that.  Come to bed,” she reached out her good arm to him.  She felt stupid.  Amon was dressed down from what he usually wore.  He was still completely covered except for his hands and feet, but it was less bulky and looked more comfortable.  Aita herself only had on what felt like thin hospital pants and bandages, that covered her shoulder, and thankfully her breasts.  But she still felt overly exposed. 

“Don’t worry.  I’ll let you come join me fulltime soon.  The time is near,” said Amon, sounding regretful.  Aita sighed and snuggled up to her leader, trailing her hand from where his mask and head met down to his waist.

“Shhh,” she said, feeling him relax under her touch. “I’m fine.”

Amon sighed, but she could tell he was drifting off.  Aita started to hum and sing gently.  It was only right she help Amon sleep after all the times he had helped her find rest. 

“Little soldier boy, come marching home/ Brave soldier bow, comes marching home.”


	6. Premonition of Faith

Aita was able to convince Amon to let her go by nine.  They briefly discussed getting Aita ‘out of harm’s way’, but Aita was able to persuade Amon that the only reason she’d been attacked was because she was a nonbender walking the streets after dark.  Of course she’d been attacked and she hadn’t been able to fight them off as well since she didn’t want word of a nonbender who was as good at blending techniques as she was getting around.  Amon hadn’t really been satisfied with the answer, and Aita had made her excuses (and promises to take care of her shoulder) before she headed toward the Pro-bending stadium.  She knew it was a long shot that her brother would be there, but she’d heard the stadium was closing down from the radio. She hoped that her brother was with Mako and Bolin, helping them pack. 

The morning was brisk, and everywhere there was a certain tense air to people whether it showed in how they stood or their demeanors.   That was the reaction Amon wanted from the electrical gloves.  Anyone could use the gloves.  Oh, not everyone should.  The gloves still packed a deadly punch if used incorrectly.  But benders had their powers regardless if they knew how to use them or not, so the gloves only seemed fair. 

Aita hoped her brother was at the stadium.  Sota hadn’t been at the store, and Aita didn’t dare head back home.  She didn’t know if she ever could again.  So, the stadium was the only other place she could think for him to have gone.  Mako and Bolin were his best friends, and anyone else would have told him to go home or at least go find his sister. 

“Well, well, what have we here?” Aita froze before glancing to the side.  The men strolling toward her wore Agni Kai colors.  So they were going to be the first gang to recover after the loss of their leader.  Interesting. “You know, this isn’t a safe spot for a young lady after the attack.  Why don’t we escort you home?”

Aita took a tentative step back from the trio.  Her shoulder gave off a small thrum of pain that had her eyes watering and she hoped these men didn’t see her tears.  She should run, but there might be more waiting just around the corner.  This was a stupid place to try and coerce her.  They’re right out in the open.  Anyone could see them and call the cops.  Still, there aren’t many people paying attention to them.  All the cops were busy at the end of the bridge, just within sight, and they’d probably been told to keep their eyes firmly planted on the scene in front of them and not let themselves be distracted by anything outside the stadium. 

“I’m just going to see a friend,” said Aita carefully. 

“If your friend was in there, they were probably trampled to death if they didn’t come home last night.  Come on honey, I know just the place we can drown our sorrows,” said the man, reaching out to her.  Aita felt her back hit against a wall and quickly punched the man with her good arm.  He stumbled away, holding his nose and cursing.

“You’re going to regret that girlie,” hissed the one with a sleeker frame and wider mouth.  He took his friend’s place as leader.  Aita gulped, but she couldn’t do much but hold her ground.  Aita couldn’t imagine she looked all that intimidating standing at five feet two with a cast on.  Hell, her built figure was mostly hidden by her clothing, and idiots often mistook what muscle they could see for fat.

“Hey, I think she told you to leave her alone,” said the avatar.  It was obvious it was the avatar, she had a voice like Amon, it was so distinct and loud that you never forgot it or got it confused with someone else.  Or maybe it was the accent. 

A wave of ice, caught the first gang member, and he went down with a scream, throwing fire to melt the ice.  The other two took off immediately.  Not sticking around to try and fight the avatar, leaving their buddy to be swept up and thrown into the fire with water bending.  Apparently the avatar liked playing with her victims, though her smile wasn’t malicious.  She just looked excited.

“You alright?” asked the avatar, her attention now on Aita.  Aita froze, clutching at the wall behind her, feeling trapped. “Hey, I’m not going to hurt you.  I’m the avatar.”

“Right, um, thank you.  I wasn’t expecting anyone to be stupid enough to try anything so close to the cops,” said Aita, nodding toward the distant figures at the other end of the bridge.

“I guess their busy,” said the avatar with an annoyed pout. “Ah, you’ll be able to get wherever you’re going alright, right?”

“I’m just heading to the stadium,” said Aita, forcing herself to calm down.

“Why?” asked the avatar, not accusingly, just slightly thrown off.

“Looking for someone, thought he might have ended up with Mako and Bolin,” said Aita, not able to keep down a blush.  Though she wasn’t sure why she was blushing.

“Oh, you’re that guy’s sister.  He’s helping Mako and Bolin pack. Come on, I’ll give you a lift,” said the avatar.  The avatar grabbed Aita’s good arm, and Aita found herself following if just to keep her arm from being ripped out its socket.  Apparently the avatar didn’t know her own strength, or at least how to hold back.  Then the polar bear dog started running.  Aita bit back a squeak and held on tight to the avatar as every long stride by the beast sent a jolt of pain through her shoulder. 

“I’m Korra, by the way,” shouted the avatar as the beast ran up to the security tape.

“Aita,” said Aita before she groaned once when the polar bear dog stopped abruptly and then when she didn’t let go of the avatar quickly enough and the other girl jumped off her beast and pulled Aita with her.  Aita grumbled, standing up and jogging after the girl as she massaged her now aching shoulder.  At this rate she was going to bleed through her bandages before it was time to change them. 

“Guys, great news.  You don’t have to go back on the streets.  I talked to Tenzin and made all the arrangements,” said the avatar as she entered Bolin and Mako’s apartment.  Aita followed her up, surprised at the avatars generosity.  Korra must have become close friends with her teammates to make an offer like that.  Aita knew the brother’s last team member would never have offered them a place to stay even if there continued to be Pro-bending matches after the stadium was destroyed. “You can come live me.”

“Oh, we’d love to but…” started Mako.

“Asami already invited us to live with her in her dad’s giant mansion,” said Bolin excitedly. “From here on out it’s going to be the lap of luxury for us.  Oh, hey Aita.  How are you doing?”

“Where’s my brother?” Aita demanded.  Bolin’s smiled became a little sheepish as he pointed to where a good looking young woman holding Pabu was sitting atop a loft.  The avatar made an interesting face when she saw the other girl.  It was somewhere between horrified and disgusted.  Aita had to remind herself she was angry at her brother and not to ruin the effect by laughing at the avatar’s reaction. 

“Hey, I’m Asami Sato.  Sota’s hiding in behind the rug,” said Sato’s daughter.  Asami tried to pull the rug away, but it pulled back.  Aita was thrown for a second.  The equalist had heard that Mr. Sato’s daughter was dating Mako, but she hadn’t been able to picture it before this.  Asami was a rather refined looking girl; it seemed odd that she’d choose to date Mako. “It’s good to see you Korra.”

“Hey Asami,” said the avatar, folding her arms and looking put out with having to be nice to the other girl. 

“I’m glad I caught you two.  I already invited Sota, but I’d love you two to come visit me at the estate,” said Asami.

“I don’t know I have some avatar stuff to do,” said the avatar.

“Come on Korra, we all deserve some rest and relaxation,” said Bolin while making Pabu a puppet.  Aita glared at him and then looked up to where her brother was looking at her from the loft with a sheepish grin. 

The avatar giggled. “Alright Pabu.”

“What about you Aita?” asked Bolin in that same stupid voice. “We can go swimming in Asami’s pool.”

“A bit hard with my shoulder,” said Aita.  Bolin blinked in surprise, as if he hadn’t noticed her sling before this.

“What’d you do?” asked Sota.

“Some of us worked yesterday,” said Aita with a frown.

“Ha!  You finally lifted something to heavy for you and threw out your shoulder,” said Bolin triumphantly.  Everyone gave him a disapproving and slightly confused look.  Bolin hid behind Pabu. “I mean, I’m so sorry Aita.  But getting a little wet will lift your spirit right?  Water is your favorite element.”

Aita sighed but nodded.  She then glared at her brother before turning back to Mako and Boling.

“You need any help packing up?” she asked the brother’s.

“No we’re about done,” said Mako. 

“Then I’ll take this idiot with me.  The store needs some work done and I can’t do the lifting for a while,” said Aita. 

“Have fun,” said Bolin teasingly. 

“You still need a job?” asked Sota.

“Okay, time for us to leave before my brother says something stupid,” said Aita, grabbing her brother by the collar as he came down from the loft.

“Cold,” said Bolin with a shiver.  Mako rolled his eyes.

“I should probably go too.  I just came to tell you about… yeah, see you tomorrow,” said the avatar.  The radio cracked.

“Good morning Republic City,” said Amon.  Aita tensed.  She hadn’t even realized that the radio was playing before she heard Amon’s voice. “I realize that this is soon after my last announcement yesterday, but just as I showed you how you worshipped bullies and cheats before, now I wish to direct your attention to the evil you allowed to happen to nonbenders by benders.  Today Chief Bei Fong announced the unfortunate death of the waterbender elitist Orgi Lefu who stopped four lives before they could begin because they weren’t the benders he wanted.  I would also like to bring your attention to the teacher Burbi Thron, who, as a young man, had no problem using his bending to torture defenseless nonbenders.  And the last man Luci Thron, who was a known nonbender killer that our city officials let loose because he was only killing the unimportant nonbenders.  These men all killed nonbenders.  All of them were guilty of murder, but our city let them continue on free because they didn’t kill anyone they saw as important.  They allowed these murderers to roam free among us.  But I will not allow this to continue any longer.  Along with the protection I offer in form of the electrical gloves, I promise retribution for those nonbenders who seek it.  We will not shed blood when we can avoid it, but men like these three are beyond forgiveness or chance.  The Revolution is upon us and we will see that all benders who have escaped justice before, meet it.”

Silence dampened the room.

“Interesting,” said Aita.

“Interesting,” shouted Korra, making Aita jump. “That man just admitted to murder and you think that’s interesting?”

“Water, earth, and fire,” said Aita, holding up her free hand when she untangled it from her brother’s collar. “The three men were one of each element.  And he probably didn’t kill them himself.”

“But he gave the order,” said Korra angrily.  Aita nodded. “That monster.”

“Hey, cut Aita some slack Korra, she’s used to just stating facts,” said Bolin. “She doesn’t believe in putting honey in what she says.”

“Plus, this could be a warning.  They’ve killed one person of each element, maybe they’ll go after the last one,” said Mako.  Korra’s eyes widened.

“Tenzin, the kids,” she gasped, and then was gone.

“You should watch what you say,” said Mako after a second, looking over at Aita. “She’s sensitive, and we don’t actually need any more stress after what happened last night.”

“I’m sorry,” said Aita. “It just slipped out, and I’m exhausted.”

“How long were you at Narook’s?” asked Mako.  Aita smiled thinly.

“Until three.  You know me, I don’t really care about Pro-bending,” said Aita and then flinched. “Sorry, being insensitive again I guess.”

“That’s fine around us.  And Korra will get used to you soon enough,” said Mako with a smile. Aita rolled her eyes and prayed to the spirits that she wouldn’t hang around the avatar long enough to develop any understanding with the other girl.

She smirked at Bolin.

“So is that why you like her Bolin?  Because she’s sensitive?” she teased. 

“And perfect,” said Bolin, looking at the ceiling with dreamy eyes and not blushing like Aita had hoped he would.

“Romantics,” she huffed under her breath, making Mako laugh. Aita grabbed Sota and started dragging him out the door. “See you tomorrow Mako, Bolin, Asami.”

“Save me,” cried her brother, but it was already too late.

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

The pool was nice.  Aita rolled up her pants and let her lower legs float in the water.  Even if her shoulder wasn’t out, she still would still be wearing a full body swimsuit.  But for now, she would go like this.  No need to chance any blood getting in the pool, and at least she got to feel the water a little.

“This is so awesome,” said Bolin, for what had to be the fiftieth time, before he submerged himself.  Aita just shook her head and kept a careful eye on him.  She didn’t trust Bolin.  He’d probably think it hilarious to drag her into the water even with her bad shoulder.  He’d already tried to splash her. 

Sota had gotten them to Sato’s mansion by nine after giving Jiron, they’re fire bending employee, a crash course on how to run the store.  Jiron already watched the store for one them on occasion, but Aita had never left him by himself for an entire day and had wanted to make sure he understood what was expected of him.  Aita didn’t know how much Jiron had heard besides ‘you get to work the whole day’, the firebender was always looking to pick up more hours around the shop. 

Aita sighed and kicked a little.  The water felt so good against her skin.  The equalist knew she shouldn’t fantasize, but with her connection to the spirit world she knew exactly how it would feel to have a waterbender come and heal her.  And not the healing her mother usually gave her. No, one done by a proper healer who actually knew what they were doing.  Bending had some ups sides to it; it could do so many useful things.  But, it was also so destructive.  So useful, but all useful knowledge had come from a reaction to war and violence.  The machines that fueled electricity to the city started out propelling one of the war machines from the One Hundred Year War.  And now machines, something mostly nonbenders were known to think of and create because it was also reactionary, were tainted first as a reaction to violence benders created.  You had machines that flew and dropped bombs before you had commercial flight.  Vehicles that transported soldiers before they held a civilian family.  Even nonbending advances in healing came from trying inventive new ways to heal burns, broken bones from earth bending, and frost bite.                                                    

“You try and drag me underwater, and I’ll steal every girl you ever lay eyes on,” said Aita, glaring at Bolin as he swam a little too close to her with that sneaky smile of his.  Bolin pouted.

“You can’t steal Korra,” said Bolin, pointing at the avatar.  Aita froze for a second.  When had the avatar come in exactly?  The equalist looked the avatar over, the girl looked a little confused over the attention, or maybe she was just shelter and was confused at what Bolin was implying. 

“Oh, I think you’re underestimating me, Bolin,” said Aita with a leer.  Bolin pouted at her.

“What were you thinking about so hard, Aita?” asked Mako as surfaced next to his girlfriend. 

“Were you in the spirit world?” asked Bolin with what could have passed as a squeal. “Tell me my future.”

Aita frowned at him and rubbed the aching spot right between her eyes. “That takes a different sort of concentration.” Bolin pouted at her, again.  He really was working his pout. “But sure, why not?”

Aita relaxed back and let her mind wander.  Just let go of the moment for a second and let her consciousness open to the knowledge and observation of a world only loosely, but completely connected to their world. 

“Betrayal,” Aita heard slip from her lips. “All of us will experience a poignant betrayal soon.”

“What?” asked Asami, sounding alarmed.  The avatar scoffed.  

“Come on Aita, couldn’t you see something happy.  Like love,” said Bolin, jumping a little in the water. 

“Mako and Asami are already in a relationship.  You and the avatar are hopelessly caught in love interest that can’t be returned,” said Aita. “That’s not news.”

“It’s a trick,” said the avatar defensively, glowering at Aita.  Aita glared back. “The spirit world doesn’t tell the future.  It’s a place where…”

“I know what the spirit world is.  What you fail to realize is how much it sees.  I don’t get my information from one spirit.  The spirit world is a collection of spirits, ideas, ghosts, and premonition.  It feeds on the understanding of all creatures and reflects what it finds within it’s own confines.  What I see is only glimpses that are often obscure and unclear.  It’s the reason I can only give generalities.  While I can only vaguely see the most likely path fortune can take, I will say that the betrayal had already happened; the spirits simply see the revelation happening soon.  Though soon is relative to them.  It could be anything from a few moments to a couple of years.”

“Huh, useless,” said the avatar.  Aita just glared at her. “You can claim anything within that timeframe.”

“I said it would be poignant,” said Aita.

“That’s still pretty loose, and it’s a war.  Of course there are going to be someone who betrays us,” said the avatar looking uncomfortable. 

“Then perhaps the spirits wish to remind you of the gravity of what is happening since you obviously have blocked them out,” snapped Aita.  The avatar flushed and glared at Aita as if she could set her on fire just by looking at her. 

“I haven’t blocked them out.  I’m just not good with that sort of thing,” said the avatar, blushing. “And you’re still grasping at air.”

“And your aura’s all tangled up in itself.  The spirit world is trying to send you a message.  Maybe a being, maybe a vision, hell maybe one of your past lives is trying to get in contact with you, but you’re so set against it that there’s no way that it’ll ever get past your barriers,” Aita said with a sneer. 

“I don’t put up any barriers,” said the avatar before she turned to face the guys. “You guys can’t seriously believe she’s connected to the spirit world.”

“Sure she is,” said Bolin, before hiding behind Mako when the avatar glared at him.  Mako chuckled.

“Aita’s rooted in the spirit world.  She had to spend time with Tenzin when she was younger to actually get out of there, and she still has spells,” said Mako.

“Tenzin?” asked the avatar. Aita sighed.

“To be fair, Tenzin doesn’t take my visions seriously either.  He thought they were hallucinations that the spirits gave me in order to entice me back to the spirit world.   If he heard what I just said, he’d give me some fruity tea and tell me to meditate until I got my head back in the real world,” said Aita while scrunching up her nose in distaste.

“Oh, um,” said the avatar, Aita wondered if the other girl understood what rooted meant.  It looked like it, maybe, but there was a chance that she just thought Aita was for some reason abnormally connected to the Spirit World. “Sorry.  So, you know Tenzin?”

The avatar took that opportunity to come stand next to her.  Watching the boys as Mako dunked Aita’s brother.

“A little, haven’t seen him in years.  I was only brought to him because I kinda went crazy at school and someone picked up I was babbling on about spirits.  Since Tenzin is very spiritual, it only made sense to send me to him,” said Aita with a shrug. 

“He didn’t seem to recognize your brother,” said the avatar as the two brothers started a water fight with Sota, and Asami swam over toward Aita and Korra cautiously.

“I don’t think they ever met,” said Aita with a sigh. 

“Listen, I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions,” said Korra.

“No, it’s alright; if I had known what the prediction was going to be I wouldn’t have gone so far in and tried to tell my prediction a little more tact,” said Aita. “Sometimes I feel like Tenzin is right in some ways.  All my predictions are vague and useless until they come to pass.  So the spirits are probably trying to drive me mad, especially since my predictions are the only thing people are interested in when they hear I’m connected to the spirit world.”

“I’m surprised people would think of that,” said Korra.   Aita shrugged.

“I can glean almost all information on bending from the spirit world.  Take quick jaunt on the other side.  See the creatures that sometimes pass to our world whether they have become invisible, are trying to blend in, or have overshadowed a person’s will.  I can see the harshest deaths that happened in the streets of this city and the past lives of those I gaze to long into the eyes of.  All those abilities made people avoid me.  When I started giving loose, vague predictions of the future to people, that’s what interested them and made them start treating me like a human,” said Aita and then blushed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to rant.”

“No, its okay, it sounded like you had to get it off your chest,” said Korra, she was almost smiling. “Here, let me make it up to you.”

Aita only had a second to wonder that meant before the avatar bathed her arm in glowing, healing water.  She stiffened at first and then relaxed at the sensation. 

“This isn’t a pulled shoulder.  It was burned,” said the avatar, sounding surprised and suspicious.

“What?” asked Sota, quickly getting out of the water fight and swimming over to them.  Aita blushed and then glared at her brother. 

“Where do you think I looked for you first?” Aita demanded. 

“Sorry Aita,” said Sota.  Aita kept her face down, to make sure that the avatar couldn’t see her face. 

“I don’t understand,” said the avatar.

“Aita and Sota don’t come from the best home,” said Bolin.  Aita glared at the other boy while Sota went to go dunk his friend. 

“Oh,” said the avatar, still healing Aita’s shoulder. “How often do you..?”

“So, Asami, what else do we have planned for today?” asked Aita, trying to change the subject. 

“Let me guess, shopping, makeovers,” said the avatar.  Aita looked back at the avatar, wondering why the other girl would even suggest those activities when they didn’t interest her, or Aita for that matter.

“I vote makeovers,” said Bolin before Mako dunked him again. 

“Actually,” said Asami while climbing out of the pool. “I have something a little more exciting in mind.”

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

“Spirits, this is worse than Pro-bending,” said Aita, throwing her head in her hands.  The avatar had looked very impressed with how the Satomobiles flew around the track, but Aita couldn’t see the appeal.  The sound of the engine was a little impressive, and the speed wasn’t anything to scoff at, but after three seconds of watching the machines, well, you’d seen everything that you were going to.  Maybe it was fun behind the wheel.  Aita could see that, though she’d only been a Satomobile a handful of times when she was younger, and all she remembered was being drossy when she got out. 

“Come on Aita, do you hate all sports?” asked Bolin.

“I think so,” said Aita with a groan. 

“But it’s a fast city with bright lights,” began Bolin in what could have been a singing voice.  Aita grinned despite herself.

“They’ve got all the bending to set your sights,” continued Aita. 

“In Republic City you’ll find your home/Among the wretched and wicked tomes,” they sang together, getting for the part where they’d belt out the song. “Welcome to the city of commerce and change/where all our fears have to come end./We’ll meet as one and fight like cats/because in the end that’s that.”

“It’s horrible,” shouted Sota, leaning against Mako.  Mako leaned back and clutched at his ears.

“It’s like two cat crows during mating season,” said Mako. Aita and Bolin couldn’t continue the horrible song and both fell against each other laughing.  The race ended the avatar and Asami winning.  The boys cheered.  Aita didn’t understand why the employee had been driving so recklessly against his boss’s daughter.  One would think that he’d be afraid to lose his job.  But who knew, maybe the man was just overly prideful, or was that respectful towards Asami’s ability as a driver.

The boys all took turns racing in the cars next.  Asami didn’t let any of them drive, but they all seemed happy to just experience the ride from the back. The avatar really got into the racing, yelling at the racing cars as if the people inside them could hear her.  Aita turned down the offer, claiming mobile sickness.  Bolin and her brother snorted in disbelief, but Asami took her excuse with good grace, and Bolin suddenly started bouncing around claiming he had to find a bathroom that second. 

“Emergency, emergency coming through, beep, beep,” said Bolin as he ran into Asami’s mansion and toward the bathroom.  Mako held his head in hand looking exasperated and embarrassed by his brother’s actions.  As Bolin whimpered his way loudly toward the bathroom, the avatar asked if there was another. 

“I’m surprised you two didn’t need to go to the bathroom.  I thought girls always traveled in packs to that place,” said Sota.  Aita glared at her brother and Asami giggled.

“So what did you think of our test site?” asked Asami.

“It was awesome, Asasmi,” said Mako, giving his girlfriend a little squeeze. 

“Those models are awesome.  You could totally start a racing franchise or something with those things,” said Sota.  Asami giggled again.  She had a very refined giggle, Aita would give her that.  She was also very confident in herself.  It was a good thing that Bolin wasn’t interested in her, Asami wouldn’t be drawn to Aita with envy like other girls who saw her muscle and wanted that sort of strength were.  And what fun was it to have Bolin fall in love with someone Aita couldn’t steal away?

“I don’t know about that,” said Asami modestly.

“So, what have we got planned next?” asked Sota.  Aita rolled her eyes.  She might be blunt, but her brother had never learned manners.

“Well, Mako was interested in getting a proper tour of one of our factories.  I was thinking we could do that after lunch.  If everyone agreed,” said Asami, catching the Aita’s eyes.  Aita looked away, pretending to blush.  She’d seen enough people’s past lives to know that while she usually saw something innocent or beautiful.  Some people’s past lives, even if it was just one of them, were dripping in red and greed and everything that made humans despicable.  It was hard to like someone after you’d seen that sort thing.  It was hard to remind yourself that a new life means a new chance and clean slate, and that she shouldn’t judge them on something they personally did not do. 

“Is there any bending involved?” asked Aita.

“No, but there can be.  My father started by supporting nonbenders who were out of work like him and that also he designed it without bending in mind,” said Asami. “I thought you were a nonbender?”

“Oh, I am, I just can’t understand anything mechanical outside of how it uses bending.  You know, like, I know how those old submarines are pushed through the water with waterbending, but I don’t understand how you’d know how much air you could keep in there or how you’d deal with the pressure,” said Aita with a shrug.  Asami looks a little confused by the explanation, but nodded as if she understood. “Still, I’d like to see one of the factories.  From what I heard they’re quite impressive.”

“I’m all for it,” said Sota. 

“All for what?” asked Bolin, coming back from the bathroom.

“Going to the factory after lunch,” said Asami with another chuckle. 

“Lunch,” said both Bolin and her brother, practically drooling.  Than Bolin saw the butler and immediately perked up.  Aita tried to bite back a groan.  Bolin had an unnatural interest in the butler and liked asking him to do ridiculous ‘rich people things’ just because he could.  Aita had a bet going with Mako on how long it would be until the butler tried to murder Bolin.  The man was doing well so far.  He only tensed for a second when Bolin asked him in a pompous voice to spray him with perfume, but Aita was pretty sure she could hear the butler grinding his teeth as he left. 

At least Asami wasn’t insulted by the way the earthbender was acting. 

The avatar appeared flying down the stairs and ran to leave.

“You’re leaving?” asked Asami.

“I’m sorry, I forgot I’m supposed to airsit… babybend… I mean babysit the airbending kids.  See you later,” and the avatar burst through the door and ran away after that rather blatant lie.

“How do you babybend?” asked Sota.  Everyone turned to look at him. “What? Everyone was thinking it.”

“And I’m the one without tact,” sighed Aita. “I think I’ll head to the powder room before lunch too.”

Aita casually walked up the stairs the way the avatar did, but stopped when she heard Mr. Sato’s voice.  She opened the door and looked inside.  Mr. Sato’s face screwed up angrily for a moment, and Aita remembered that Asami said something about inviting the boys to stay at their mansion without consulting her dad.  Which would make sense. Amon was adamant about Mr. Sato hating nonbenders and that he was just sponsoring the fire ferrets as a cover. 

“Can I help you?” Mr. Sato asked in a pleasant but insincere tone.

“Sorry, the avatar just ran out like shidlebat from the nether so I was just checking that everything was alright,” said Aita with a smile.

Mr. Sato’s eyes widened and his breath seemed to be caught in his chest.

“When did she leave?” he asked.  Aita tried to look innocently confused.

“Just a few minutes ago,” said Aita.  The man seemed to realize his slipup and coughed.

“Right, well, I didn’t hear anything, but I’ll have the servants look into it.  Thank you miss,” said Mr. Sato.  Aita nodded and left.  Looked like she’d have to check in on Amon tonight.  Though she wasn’t sure how she was going to explain her shoulder.

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

It didn’t take too long to sneak out of Asami’s mansion and make her way to Amon’s current hideout.  The equalist had to get a little too close to comfort to the hideout to get a change of clothes, but she only had so many sets of her Spirit disguise and less places she felt safe hiding them in.  Aita decided to forgo her usual braid and just curled her hair into a coil and then secured it with a platinum twist that Amon had given to her so she could keep her braid from getting in her way.  The hair piece was useful, and no one questioned it on Aita, one because it actual was in fashion, at least with working class girls, and two, it was practical. 

Aita snuck in through the building they’d designed as the clinic.  This was a rather small building.  They didn’t have any large group training soldiers here, there might be a small chi blocking class, but it would probably consist of the few elite nonbenders that lived in this part of the city. 

“Spirit, I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon, and with your arm looking so good,” said Orlang.  Aita smiled behind her mask, glad that Orlang was following around Amon for the next week or so before she went back to her permanent spot at the central equalist center, which was wherever Amon was staying at the present time, well, at least usually, unless he went to stay at one of their smaller dwellings. “Give me just a minute and I’ll see you in the backroom”

Aita nodded and headed to the room.  She took off her shirts and wondered if she should also lock the door until Orlang came in, or knocked to come in. 

“Now, let’s see,” said Orlang.  The woman easily undid Aita’s bandages and then started poking at the mostly healed flesh.  Aita flinched.  The wound wasn’t as bad as it had been, and it was almost completely healed with no scar.  Now the wound just felt like a bad bruise that covered her entire shoulder. “Whoever healed this was very talented.”

“I guess,” said Aita with a shrug. “How do I explain this to Amon?”

Orlang paused and then sighed and then chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much.  Most of us live hiding our equalist ties and as equalists hide our civilian lives.  We never let anyone outside the organization know what  we are, and there are a few like you who constantly wear their masks and give false names to fellow comrades.  You’re not the first person who’s been unable to dodge out of a healing by a waterbending friend.”

Aita nodded and accepted her shirts back. 

“It’s too bad to.  I working on a training schedule with the trainers for you,” sighed Orlang. “They were going to make you regret letting your guard down.”

Aita chuckled. “Well, tell them I’m sorry to ruin their fun.”

The door opened and Amon strolled through.  Aita glared at him.  Didn’t he know how to knock?

“Spirit, good to see you,” said Amon. “I hadn’t expected to see you until your shoulder healed or I sought you out.”

“Her shoulders already been healed,” said Orlang, poking at the shoulder.  Aita glared.

“I see, you no longer need a sling,” said Amon, his tone neutral. “I’m glad that your day persona has some trustworthy friends.”

Aita shrugged. “She’s a good person.  Well, as good as a bender can be.”

 “Did you come in just for a checkup?” asked Amon.  And then held up his hand. “Wait. I wish to introduce you to someone first. Mr. Sato?”

Aita straightened when she heard the man’s name.  The owner of the satomobiles had just seen her this afternoon.  Still, she was well covered, and her actual body type hard to tell.  He wouldn’t recognize her voice because she was whispering.  And there were plenty of girls her height. 

“Hello Spirit, it’s a pleasure to meet you.  You’re reputation precedes you,” said Mr. Sato as he stepped into the room.

“As does yours Mr. Sato,” said Aita and she bowed her head a little to him.

“Are you interested in seeing my mechatanks?” asked Mr. Sato, and Aita sagged.  God, mechatank that was almost worse than Robot Suites.  What was it with guys and naming things?  Were they just not made to do it? “We’re almost ready to give them their first real test run.”

“Which will be happening tomorrow night due to new circumstances,” said Amon.

“I would be honored,” said Aita.  Mr. Sato beamed and bowed as if to usher her through the door.  Aita rolled her eyes but went out to see Mr. Sato’s creations anyway.  There was a secret passage leading to the underground factory.  Unfortunately it meant that the house they used in this district would have to be abandoned after this operation, but it had been convenient for its time and served its purpose.  

The mechatanks were awesome.  Aita hardly heard Amon’s plan to capture the avatar, or at least disgrace the chief, one of the two, as she looked over the machines.  The platinum gave a certain shine to the machines that Aita didn’t think any other metal would have achieved.  She voiced her doubts about the normal metal floor, but since Amon was going through with his plan at such an accelerated pace, the only thing they could do was put up walls and hope that the earthbenders didn’t think of going underground to escape Sato’s machines. 

The next day was tense.  Aita dragged her brother back to help run the store. Aita went to pick up some deliveries and came back to the radio blaring.  Sota refused to turn it down even when customers came in.  Apparently the fact that Mr. Sato was being investigated had really thrown her brother.  Aita wondered what would happen when was revealed that Sato was actually an equalist. 

Aita spent the night at one of the larger warehouses training with the others.  Dou had some questions and suggestions and they went over the new signals again, expanding on the ones they already knew and this time working on light signals.  After, it was only one in the morning, and Aita hadn’t wanted to return home, at least for a few days.  So Aita had found a nice dark corner and napped as well as she could. 

She didn’t sleep well.  Amon had given her a mission after they had left Sato’s underground factory.  The next day was the Festival of Remembrance. Quite a few people would be making a brief stop at air temple and more would go to the edge of the city to celebrate.  It was a festival started by avatar Aang in order to commemorate the great loss of airbenders around the world.  While it was a time of sadness, Aang had also wanted the airbenders who died to be remembered for what they were and the good they did the world.  So the festival had an odd feel to it.  Both celebratory, but also with an undertone of loss and sadness.  The festival now also had people placing memorials to earthbenders, waterbenders, and even firebenders that lost their lives during the one hundred year war.

Aita always thought that the festival was pointless.  The needless death of people based on the element they wielded and a family’s obsession with power.  That’s what bending did to you.  It corrupted you, made you feel better than any other person around you, and then enticed you to act on that power and destruction.    

Plus, they always closed down on festival day.  Her family didn’t live anywhere near the shore, and even when her brother and her had been able to get a booth near the festivities, no one was interested in buying their stuff.  So instead Sota and her were planning on heading over to the air temple where their friends would probably be hanging out for the day.  Well, Aita was sure that where they were.  The brothers couldn’t live in the mansion of someone who was probably revealing at that moment that he was with the equalists.  For one thing, the government would probably seize everything for further investigation making it impossible to live.  Oh, well, this should get Bei Fong to step down as chief.  Bei Fong was a hard woman, but her impersonal and moral background was something hard to ignore.  Tarlock on the other hand was a pompous windbag who was easy to hate because of his haughty attitude and manipulating personality.  He was hard to like, w+hich made him the perfect man to go against Amon.  It wasn’t hard to pick sides when one man was so obviously corrupt and the other just fighting to free the common man.  Even if common man did use violence and terrorist actions to get his point across. 

Aita headed to the store the next morning, grabbing some of her spare clothes from under the floorboards when she met her brother at the door.  He looked a bit lost, and it was obvious that news of Sato’s ‘betrayal’ had hit him hard.  He insisted on catching the first ferry they could to air temple island so they could make sure their friends were okay. 

“Is Tenzin available?” Aita asked after making her way up the dock and onto the island.  The place was crawling with people.  All the White Lotus sentries looked stiff with worry, but Aita could see Tenzin’s children happily playing about and annoying various benders. 

“I’m afraid he’s entertaining some important people today,” said a pissed off looking receptionist. “Please sign.”

“Sota,” yelled Bolin.  Aita blinked up to see Bolin bowling toward them and then flinging himself over the table to tackle Aita’s twin.  Aita blinked and looked down on them.  Sota was trying to regain his breath after it had been knocked out of him as Bolin wailed into his shoulder.

“Hey Aita,” said Mako as he came to stand by Aita.  He looked defeated, there were bags under his eyes, and his shoulders were slumped and hunched over a bit. “Thank you for coming to visit.”

“We were going to anyway,” said Aita with a shrug. “Sorry about Mr. Sato.  Do you know if Tenzin will see me?”

“He’s seeing the council at the moment, but they should be leaving soon. What’s with the bag?”

“Sota was hoping we could spend the night,” said Aita. “I told him that you guys probably needed some time get your bearings back.”

“Actually, it might be nice to have two familiar faces around,” said Mako. “And I think you might be good for Korra and Asami, they don’t seem to know how to talk to each other.”

“I thought that they were getting along better,” said Aita.

“They sparred earlier, but Korra’s the avatar for a reason.  I’m afraid Bolin and I haven’t been much help.  We’ve been orphans so long we don’t know what it’s like to have parents, and what we remember, really remember, is all good.  I couldn’t imagine finding out one of my parents had joined a radical group that I couldn’t support.  It would be…” Mako shivered as he let the sentence die.

“I never knew my father.  My mother is a bimbo, and my stepfather is abusive.  I really don’t see how I can be of any use,” said Aita bluntly.  Mako flinched. “Or maybe you’re just throwing me at them because I’m a girl.”

“Sorry Aita,” said Mako, before going to help Sota support Bolin who was still crying hysterically.  Hopefully the earthbender hadn’t been doing that all night.  Aita glanced back to where the two girls were sitting outside the temple both with tea.  Probably Mako’s doing.  He saw a girl upset and he shoved tea in her hands if he could.  Aita didn’t know about the avatar, the equalist would rather avoid the other girl if she could, but Asami was a nonbender.  A confused one that had obviously been very sheltered by her father, but Aita did understand the nonbender’s confusion over her father’s ‘betrayal’. 

“Hey,” Aita said.

“Hey,” they echoed back.

“So, I know that Mako thinks tea fixes everything.  But I have some chocolate from the store that I thought might work a little better,” said Aita, pulling out a box and shoving it at Asami.  Asami tensed for a moment, but before Aita could retreat and shove her chocolates away before Bolin saw them, Asami took them.

“Thank you Aita,” said Asami. “But I find that friends always help lift my spirits.”

Asami offered the avatar the box and the avatar quickly grabbed two chocolates and shoved one in her mouth, muttering some thanks to Asami.  The former rich girl giggled and then turned to offer the box toward Aita.  Aita took one and went to sit next to the avatar. 

“So, we were wondering if my brother and I could spend the night at the air temple with Bolin and Mako,” said Aita while nibbling at the chocolate. “I mean, if you could put in a good word with Tezin.”

“Um, yeah, sure,” said Korra. “Actually, you two could stay here permanently if you wanted.  I talked to Tenzin, and he seemed concerned when I told him about Mako and Bolin not being from a good family.  He said something along the lines that he should have investigated before this.”

“Oh, ah, that’s… thank you.  But I only went back to my stepfather’s place that night because I thought Sota might be there.  I’m actually living with a friend of mine at the moment.  I just haven’t told my brother yet,” said Aita.

“So that’s where you’ve been disappearing every night,” said Sota, apparently Bolin had gotten over his little fit.  Aita turned to her brother with a sheepish grin. 

“I was going to tell you soon, but…” said Aita with a shrug.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” asked Korra. “I mean, someone who does that to their kids shouldn’t just get away with it.”

Aita smiled and shook her head. “My half brothers and sisters will only suffer if you do so.”

“You don’t want to take them away from that situation?” asked Korra with a frown.

“They’re all benders and his actual children,” said Aita. “I’m the disappointment.  Get my stepfather in trouble and it only hurts them.”

“Hey, is that chocolate?” asked Bolin, thankfully breaking up the tension. 

“It’s for the girl’s not you.  Girls need chocolates to comfort them.  Men need to buck up and take it,” said Aita before Asami could offer the goof any of the chocolates.  Asami giggled and the avatar rolled her eyes.  Bolin pouted before perking up.

“Then call me Bolina from now on,” said Bolin, walking up to the giggling Asami and taking some of the chocolate the girl offered toward him. 

“Well, I see that you’re doing better now.  I’m grateful.” Aita jumped and looked behind her to where Tenzin was now standing. “Hello Aita.”

“Tenzin,” said Aita with a nod. “I’ll just be staying the night.”

“Are you sure?” asked Tenzin.

“The avatar misheard.  I’m fine,” said Aita with a smile.  Tenzin glared down at her.  But not even Tenzin could arrest someone without just reason or victim who was willing to talk. 

“If you’re sure,” said the man with a sigh before turning back to the avatar. “Tarlock has assigned a new chief of police and Lin with be staying with us for the foreseeable future.”

“Except when she’s out being a vigilante,” said Mako.  Aita glanced at him in confusion, but Tenzin nodded in confirmation.  Odd.  Amon would want to know about that.  They’d expected the woman to try to get her men back, but this sounded like more than a simple rescue and working with Tenzin and the avatar.  If Lin Bei Fon was going to go off on her own, it would change things up a little and Amon would have to adjust his plans.

“Well, today is meant to celebrate the life and rebirth of the airbenders,” said Tenzin with a smile. “We’ll continue your training tomorrow Korra.  Today I think it’s a good idea to relax with your friends.”

They spent the day mostly chasing after the airbender children and playing games with the pocket change their father gave them.  Around dinner they stopped to put little boats with lit candles in them on the water.  They would be gathered up by waterbenders later so they didn’t cause too much of a nuance later on.  They were beautiful though.  All drifting off into the ocean as the last of the daylight died from the sky.    

As everyone fell asleep Aita couldn’t help a small smile that formed on her lips.  Now she knew for sure that every airbending child was a spaz, even Tenzin’s oldest girl had her moments.  But they were sweet.  Spoiled beyond belief.  But sweet.  As nighttime fell and silence drowned the compound, Aita finally started to make her move.  First she fished out her uniform from the bottom of the bag, a special zipped up part that was hard to find if you didn’t know what you were looking for. 

She quickly slipped out the window, seeing as she had been bunked with her brother again.  And then got into her uniform.  She took out the hard wire, testing it’s strength before wrapping it around her hand.  It was sturdy, almost impossible to cut with a knife.  The real problem was keeping it around Tenzin’s throat long enough to kill him.  A slight tightness in her chest made it hard to breathe, and a lump in her throat made it impossible to swallow.  Aita sighed.  She couldn’t falter. She no longer had the luxury to feel anything but disdain for benders.  She had to forget all that Tenzin had done for her, and remember how many things he’d allowed fellow benders to get away with while he was on the council.

She scaled up the wall and crept onto the roof.  Tenzin was sleeping on the other side of the hall three doors down.  His wife wasn’t a bender, so Aita would try to keep her out of this as well as she could.  Amon may think that they needed to call anyone who allied themselves with benders enemies.  But Aita thought that what would alienate too many people. 

The equalist slunk into their room and froze in surprise when she saw that only Tenzin’s wife was the only one in bed.  Well, that was unexpected.  Where could Tenzin have gone?  The door started to slide open and Aita quickly ran to the side of the door.  As Tenzin entered, eyes half lidded with sleep.  Aita unwound the wire around her hand and waited for the perfect moment.  Tenzin slowly walked forward toward his wife, and Aita threw the wire over his head and pulled him back, catching the door and closing it behind her as she pulled the man back into the hallway. 

The airbender let out a choked sound, and Aita scrunched up her nose in annoyance. This wasn’t good.  Aita gasped as a blast of air sent her careening backward and into one of the doors.  She fell to the ground and rolled to attack but the next blast of air that Tenzin sent her way had her up against the wall again.  Aita got up and attacked forward with a series jabs that Tenzin easily avoided.

“What’s going on?” asked Korra sleepily as she opened the door to her room.  There was a moment where all three of them froze, just looking at each other.  And then Aita ran, past the avatar only to jump over an angry polar bear dog so she could get to the window.  She launched herself out the window, landed on the, and threw her grapple so she could fling herself onto the roof

Aita ran across the roof and jumped so she rolled on the ground without hurting herself but with enough momentum behind her so she could keep up a good pace.  The avatar kept at her heels sending puffs of flames and fire at Aita’s back.  Aita cursed and took her knife out from under her uniform while pushing herself to run faster.  The equalist silently hoped that her brother didn’t wake up or anyone would to check the rooms before Aita got back. 

Of course, before worrying about that, she first had to lose the avatar and Tenzin.

A blast of air had her flying at something that could have been called a series of gates, and then the gates started to turn furiously around in circles.  Aita backed, swung, and dodged her way through them and to the other side to where she ran into the woods. 

Cursing her failed assassination attempt, Aita glanced around quickly before she stripped out of her black clothes, smashed the mask, tied it all with a rock and threw it into the sea.  She then kept to the shadows as well as she could so she could sneak onto the dock to find the ledger.  It only had who left the island, but the other one might be missing by the morning if Amon somehow gained clairvoyance, realized Aita need that done, and did got rid of it for her. 

Somehow Aita made it back to her room without being caught; her brother was still snoring as she snuck under the covers with him.  She smiled and wrapped her arms around him.  The night had been a disaster.  The assassination attempt had only alerted the most powerful benders that Amon had a copycat.  She’d destroyed one of her outfits and masks, and it was only a matter of time before someone found them.  Plus, she’d only destroyed one of the ledgers, and with only limited time, she’d done her best to rip the ledger apart before throwing it in the water and hoping that the water damage would be enough to keep anyone from reading it. 

At least her identity was still secret.  At least, she hoped so. 


	7. Contemplation

 “We can’t let you leave yet.  Not until we have accounted for everyone on the island,” said ex-chief Bei Fong.  Aita sighed and ate her fish without complaint.  There was nothing else to do really.  The others had allowed Aita, Sota, Bolin, Mako, and Asami to sleep until morning, but now it was the time to get down to business.  The worst part was, after the explanation of ‘a masked woman about five-foot five trying to assassinate Tenzin’, the ex-chief had signaled out Aita as the possible attacker.  Asami was too tall, and while Aita was actually a couple of inches shorter than the description Tenzin and Korra had given, she was the best candidate apparently.

“How did you meet the avatar?” asked Bei Fong.

“Lin, this is out of line.  Aita wouldn’t try to kill me,” said Tenzin.

“You said she was rooted right?  She’s the most lucid rooted person I’ve ever met,” said the ex-chief. “You said she never visits the island despite the fact you helped raise her.  She’s probably jealous of benders.”

Aita glared at Bei Fong but kept her mouth shut.  Aita had met morons like this.  A lot of prisoners wouldn’t shut up even when they were completely at your mercy.  Usually people like Bei Fong were annoying but easy enough to shut out.  That, and Aita never really had to defend herself against them.  As Spirit, she was an equalist with a deep hatred for benders, it didn’t matter that anything she said was taken as her being an equalist pig because she thought they were bender pigs. 

But in front of the ex-chief, Aita couldn’t say she didn’t want to be bender, because that looked like she didn’t care about benders.  But on the flip side, she couldn’t say she wished she was a bender, because that was envy and a motivation for her to have joined the equation.  Both answers would make her look guilty in the eyes of Bei Fong.  So Aita would keep her mouth shut instead of trying to defend herself. 

“My sister would never do anything like that,” said Sota.

“Not even after she admitted that her firebender stepfather abused her?” asked Bei Fong. Aita’s fingernails bit into her skin, and she gritted her teeth in annoyance.

“Lin that’s taking it too far,” said Tenzin angrily. 

“You have to admit that she has the motive.   She was one of us with the motivation and the means to attack as the assassin did,” said Bei Fong, getting right in Aita’s face.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Aita. “I can’t fight, and I’m shorter than the person you’re describing.”

“But your brother said you can learn bending through the spirits, and Korra said the person she fought last night moved like an airbender,” said Bei Fong. Aita sent a quick glare towards her brother. “Tenzin didn’t try to kill himself, Korra defended Tenzin, and the children are too small to fit the description Tenzin and Korra met.  That leaves you.”

“I don’t have to sit here and take this,” said Aita, biting back her anger.  Aita tried to stand but the ex-chief grabbed her arm and they glared at one another.  Aita sighed and then let her mind go.  She vaguely felt her body falling before she opened her eyes in the spirit world. 

Aita looked around.  Everything here seemed muted in yellow.  She pushed herself up, water dripping down her back.  A harsh breath seemed to run through the spirit world, and Aita wondered if it had always been like this.  This was the first time she had allowed herself to go to the spirit world after she left the temple.  She’d wandered close to it, but she’d never actively sought out to go back. 

A small ball of light landed on her shoulder, and Aita smiled.  Her hand reaching up to touch the small being.  The thing fluttered under her touch and then danced around her head.  Aita stood up, her finger shortening, her height shrinking.  She giggled and started to follow the small ball of light.  She kept to dry ground as well as she could, but her feet slipped into the muddy pounds that littered the area. 

Something that resembled a snake caught her eyes, and she watched as it seemed to move from puddle to puddle without ever getting out of the water.  By all rights, it shouldn’t even be able fit in the puddle.  She was about to reach out and touch it, it looked so smooth and shiny, when the little ball of light appeared under her hand and pushed it up toward the sky.  A flock of nebulous spirits floated overheard, guided by a humming butterfly.  She laughed and started to jump up and down, trying to catch the creatures that hovered just out of her reach. 

“You must be the spirit girl I’ve heard about from some of my friends here,” said a young male voice.  Aita turned to him, one of her slippered feet falling into the dark puddle.

“You’re avatar Aang,” said Aita as her voice grew deeper and she grew taller.  She pulled her knee length hair to the front as she stared at the spirit version of the last avatar.

“Yup,” he said happily.

“Why are you so young?” asked Aita.

“Why were you?” asked avatar Aang.  Aita shifted, glancing at the little ball of light nervously as it landed on her shoulder.  While the Spirit World gave her all sort of information, she’d heard that it was slightly different for the avatar.  They were the bridge between the two worlds.  Aita was often considered a spirit herself when she was in the Spirit World.  When she was in the real world, she felt like she didn’t belong. 

“I was hoping that you would come here,” said the avatar, coming to stand next to her. 

“How did you know that I would come here?  I haven’t been here since I was little,” said Aita.

“I don’t know.  I’ve been here a while.  Practically explored everywhere, but I only sent out the vision lately.  It’s been getting hectic in the real world, and I want to help guide Korra but…” avatar Aang shrugged. “I was hoping Tenzin would open help her so she could get in contact.  It’s always the last life’s responsibility to help the avatar create a bridge between the real world and the spiritual one.  Well, it’s more complicated than that.  But that’s a good enough explanation I suppose.”

“But you need to get her the message that’s all tangled up in her aura,” said Aita.  Aang looked at her dumbly and then laughed.  Aita blushed, not sure what he found so funny and played at the hem of her shirt. “I don’t know if I can help.”

“Oh, I know you can,” said Aang cheerily. “You triggered the vision once, and were close by the second time she got a flash of the vision.”

Aita blinked in confusion before drawing in a quick breath.  Aang couldn’t mean when Aita had brushed too close to the last avatar as Spirit and felt the tangled mess unravel.  No, then the avatar wouldn’t be coming to her for help.  He’d warn Aita had to stay away from Korra.  He’d try to kill her spiritual form.  That was possible.  If something killed Aita in the spirit world, her body would become a catatonic husk. 

“I don’t know how I did that,” said Aita. Aang’s smile softened.

“Don’t worry.  I trust you.  You will be the spiritual guide my thick reincarnation needs to lead her to me,” said Aang and then threw his arms over her shoulder. “We’ll make a great team.”

“Right,” said Aita uncertainly, wondering how to get the Aang to leave her alone.

“So, uh, you kinda need to go back,” pointed out the avatar.  Aita blushed.

“I need the mirrored pools,” she whispered.  Aang blinked and then smiled and in an instant Aita found herself staring at the crystal reflection of what looked like a tree covered in mirrors.

“You mean these, right?” asked the last avatar, backing up to give the equalist some space.  Aita nodded quickly and then walked forward.  She glanced behind her to where the translucent blue form of the avatar Aang stood happily waiting for her to go.  Aita wasn’t sure she wanted to.  She remembered very little from when she was a child and would spend her entire day playing in the spirit world.  Hell, she was more of a spirit to real world than a true person back then.  She’d chase the fairy light through swamps and trees and destruction, her soul constantly touching and appearing in the real world the same way all spirits appeared when the two worlds got too close to one another.

Aita did know she’d found this by accident.  When she was a child, her brother’s voice had echoed through the spirit world, the only thing she truly remembered.  It had filled her heart and kept her disinterested in the real world.  Sota certainly hadn’t minded her being bound to the spirit world.  The only times Aita felt lonely, was when her brother wasn’t there anymore.  And then he’d just stopped being near her.  No voice, no warmth.  So, Aita had gone searching for him.  That’s when she heard a new voice, and it had spoken to her through these mirrors.

Present day Aita lifted her hand toward her forehead, closed her eyes, and opened them again in the real world.  Then she coughed a little as Tenzin had propped her up and shooved the horrible fruity tea under her nose.

“There, see, she’s back,” said Tenzin and then turned back to Aita and shoved the tea into her hands. “Drink, then we’ll meditate, and then you’re brother will take you home.”

“No,” said Aita and then blushed. “I mean.  I was talking to avatar Aang.” She looked over to where Korra was squeezed between Mako and Bolin. “He wants me to see if I can open your mind enough for you to see the vision he sent you.  And probably wants me to work with you so you can learn how to enter the spirit world by yourself.  But I’m not even sure I can actually untangle the vision from around you so it can reach.”

Korra just blinked at Aita and then glanced at the two brothers who only shrugged and then she looked over to Sota who only rolled his eyes. 

“Are you sure that’s safe?  You already fell once into the spirit world, though Lin is partly at fault for that,” muttered Tenzin.  Aita forced herself to smile. 

“I’m just going to touch it and see if I can’t physically unwind it so it slips in,” said Aita, and then she thought about what she said. “That came out wrong.  Anyway, is the chief still here?  Korra’s probably going to pass out and I’d rather not have to endure another interrogation.”

“As I said.  Lin’s outside, cooling off.  I’ve explained your situation better to her, and your brother blew up at her,” said Tenzin. “Can you really see something?”

“I can always see things that aren’t there,” Aita pointed out. “The question is whether I can interact with it and make it actually translate to the real world.  May I?”

Korra nodded, sitting back on her heels.  Aita only paused for a second.  There wasn’t any real reason to help the avatar, but there wasn’t really any reason not to help Korra.  This vision was going to get through eventually, and her interference might not do anything.  Aita reached up and tenderly poked at the tangled mess.  Like string left and shifted into an intelligible mess.  Aita stubbornly ignored how everyone, even Tenzin was now staring at her like she’d gone crazy.  Though, to them, it probably looked like she was just fondling the air near the avatar’s head.  Suddenly it just all snapped into a nice little ball and engulfed the avatar whose eyes then rolled back as Korra slumped into what was almost a lying position on the ground. 

“Korra,” shouted Bolin, quickly running over to the avatar’s side. “Is she alright?”

“I told you this would happen if I got the vision sorted out,” Aita pointed out. 

“What’s going on?” demanded the ex-chief, storming into the room. Her eyes immediately found Aita and the ex-chief glared. “What did you do to the avatar?”

“Let a vision from the other avatar tried to send our current avatar through,” said Aita, standing up.  She matched the other woman’s glare.

“Why aren’t you passed out with her?”

“I didn’t follow the vision, if I had, I’m sure I would have ended up back in the Spirit World after it was finished,” said Aita.  Her head did feel a little buzzed though.  Maybe she should cross into the spirit world more often.  Aita knew how to get out; at least she thought she did.  That was the thing about the island.  It was built on an area that crossed closely with the Spirit World; as such Aita had been able to be dragged from it when she was younger.  Aita had never tried to get back from the spirit world in the city though.  Aita might get trapped.  Still, she was liking the fact that she didn’t have a headache anymore. 

“Tenzin said something about spending the night being worse than spending the day, why?” Aita glanced over at Bei Fong, not sure what the woman was trying to get at.

“At night we pass closest to the Spirit World.  Our thoughts can skim the edge and open our imaginations to all the possibilities it can show us,” said Aita. “Since this island is so close to the spirit world, I wouldn’t be surprised if the spirits didn’t conduct most dreams here, feeding on emotion and thoughts.  Some dreams probably lead the people who live here into the spirit world itself once in awhile.  Dreams are gates for me.  I’ve setup my mind to exist within the present and the real world, but it’s hard to control the state of mind when I’m asleep.  So when I do dream, it brings me closer to the spirit world, even when I wake up it’s hard to destroy that renewed connection.”

“Fine Tenzin, she can leave,” said Bei Fong with a frown, standing to leave.  Aita glared at her back.

“How is my word better than Tenzin’s?” Aita demanded, but the woman simply left, banging the sliding door shut behind her. 

The avatar gasped and shot up like a rocket, surprising those sitting around her.  Tears had sprung up in her eyes, and she was holding a hand to her mouth.

“Korra, are you alright?” asked Tenzin.

“I just…” the avatar shook her head, one tear slipping down her cheek.  She stood and left.  Basically fleeing the room.  Bolin tried to follow her, but Mako caught his arm and shook his head.  Bolin pouted after the avatar, but kept seated.

“Guess I should be glad I didn’t pry,” said Aita, and then made a face at Tenzin when he pushed the tea into her hands again. 

“Drink up, we have meditation and then I need to see if I can teach Korra anything.  I’m afraid I might have been neglecting her airbending studies with all that’s been going on,” said Tenzin.

“You head back home Sota.  We should open for at least some time today,” said Aita to her brother as Tenzin led her away.  Her stupid brother just smiled and waved at her as she retreated.

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

The warehouse was filled with the sound of limbs connecting in mock fights.  Dou had taken a page from Aita’s book and was teaching mostly through sign and baby language.  This would definitely help Aita.  If they learned to not only pay attention to the fight but also those leading them would definitely benefit.  Not all their battles would take place where Aita could shout out commands, it wouldn’t even be an option, her preferences put aside.  Until they found away to send their voices to each other so only they could hear.  Maybe it would be possible one day.  They could send their voices over radio waves after all.  But for now they would have to be creative how she got her orders through the raids.

Aita nodded when Dou saw her and waved in her direction.  Luco was also lurking around, but he had already seen Spirit and just frowned in her direction before sulking off to another corner.

Aita really didn’t want to go see Amon.  She’d failed so utterly and completely in her last assassination attempt that she wasn’t even sure it was possible for her to face him.  Aita hadn’t just blown the mission; she’d also blown her cover.  Before this there hadn’t even been rumor of a female going around dressed like Amon. 

Well, Aita couldn’t put the confrontation off forever.  She brushed at her dark clothes and then headed up the side stairs toward the floor Amon had set up camp.  Aita entered the room as quietly as she could.  Amon was bent over a desk.  The only light two small lamps.  He had papers spread out before him.  Most with random scribbling, some with diagrams and quick sketches.  It didn’t look like he had anything solid yet, or even a plan in mind.  He was probably just brainstorming.

“Spirit,” said Amon, noticing her despite her attempts to be as quiet as possible as she closed the door behind her. 

“Amon,” she said with a slight bow.  She was surprised how tight her chest felt and how harsh her voice sounded.

“I heard about the mission this afternoon,” said Amon.

“I’m sorry,” Aita forced out as she bowed to him again.  She tried not to show how upset she was.  But for some reason there were tears gathering in her eyes, and her guilt over not being able to pull off the final part of their plan was weighing hard on her chest. 

“Spirit?” Amon walked forward until they were hardly an inch from each other, and Aita felt her body shudder. “Spirit.  It’s alright.  We’re all going to run into impossible obstacles.  I knew assassination was a far shot from the beginning.  I was more worried my instructions would get you killed or captured.  Bethai and I have already figured out how to explain what happened.  A failure makes us seem more human.  And it’ll make them underestimate you.”

“Amon?” she asked, grasping at his sleeve.

“You’ve always been underestimated Spirit.  Even I couldn’t have properly guessed what you would eventually become.  You will pass everyone’s expectations.  Our comrades, this city, mine,” said Amon.  Aita bit back a sob and Amon’s hand snuck under her mask and up to cup her cheek.  She closed her eyes and leaned against his hand. His arm fell and he pushed at her chin with a slight tap. “We’ll rid this world of benders, Spirit.  But you must be strong.  You are my general and my heart.  To beat them, I’ll need you by my side.”

“You say that to everyone,” said Aita, still a little bit wet and her chest still tight.  But she would get herself together.  She had a task to carry out.  She couldn’t let emotions get in the way. “Do you need me to do anything tonight?”

“Just training for tonight,” said Amon.  “But we’ve already pinpointed some—designs we wish to obtain.  Unfortunately Cabbage Corp has increased its security since the last time we got in.  Hopefully Bethai’s man will get us at least the information on where the blueprints are.  But we only have one operative left in there…”

“And I’m best at breaking and entering,” said Aita, pushing the tears and tight feeling away as well as she could. “I’ll be sure to bring my picks tomorrow.”

Amon gave her a slight bow and then returned to his desk.  Aita left, closing the door and then leaning on it with a sigh.  She was shaking slightly, but she tried to let that feeling go.  She would need her things from the store if she’s breaking in to Cabbage Corp, but there are a couple of other items she’ll need to pick up from their storeroom.  She should have gotten them long ago, but pride had held her back from more than merely learning how to use them.

As Aita entered the storage room, she saw someone scuttle out of sight.  Rebc liked to keep things neat, so not only was everything kept in one area of each warehouse or factory and it was also kept careful tales of.  A trail of paperwork seemed a rather stupid thing to have, but Rebc said that no paperwork would get them in more trouble.  Aita had enough on her plate dealing with the store and making sure she filled out all the right forms and kept everything up to regulation to be legal.  She didn’t need the headache of making an illegal organization as legal as it can be so it slips under the radar.  That doesn’t even seem possible. Well, it does, but it really shouldn’t be.

Aita walks over and takes off one of the arm contraptions with a grapple at the end.  Aita frowns at it as she secures it to her arm.  She wished they weren’t automatically fitted to shot electricity.  Thankfully this model was limited, and there wasn’t too mach added.  It had one good shock in it and then the piece needed to be replaced.  Aita glared at the thing.  She knew how to use it.  She’d been trained, even used it during her earlier missions.  She just didn’t like having to resort to it.  Still, she would bring a simple rope with her.  Well, not, simple exactly.

“Style’s still wants to give you those darts,” said Lee making Aita tense in surprise.  She turned to him and then back to the grapple.

“They’re hair pieces,” muttered Aita.  Lee laughed, coming up next to her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Hair accessories tipped with poison.  That’s perfect for you,” said Lee with a laugh.  Aita touched the bun on her hair. 

“Where is he staying?” she asked with a sigh.

“Southern district,” said Lee with a chuckle, his smile widening. “Anything else you’ll need?”

Aita turned and headed out.  Signing the sheet as she left since no one seemed around to catalogue what she was taking out.

“Will you go see him tonight?” asked Lee.  Aita glanced at him and then pointed toward where Luco was now shouting. “Yes, I suppose we should tackle training first.”

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

Aita really hoped she’d put in the right set of hair pins.  One was a poison that went through the veins causing, fever, nausea, hallucination and then death within fifteen minutes.  The other set had a paralyzer.  It worked in ten minutes and shut the general system and then the brain down from anything from an hour to five depending on the person and their health at the time.  The needles were big.  They looked like chopsticks, which Aita had been assured was all the rage a hundred years ago.  Styles had said she could wear it all the time, he even had little slips that went over them so they looked different. 

Aita hadn’t been sure how to tell him that she usually wore her hair loose when she was in civilian clothes, so she had kept her mouth shut and just nodded.  She’d find a different way to work them into her clothes mostly just so she could hide then in plain sight.  They wouldn’t end up in her hair.  Aita would rather not have more ties to her persona as it already had.  Aita was probably stretching it by caring the dagger around everywhere with her even though she had a valid reason to carry one.

A calm breath seemed to fill the air and Aita paused, looking up to the sky.  The labs schematics were secured carefully to her back.  Amon wanted no extra crease or stain on them.  And the mission had actually been rather dull.  The security had given her a little trouble, but Aita was good with locks and three of her best comrades backing her, so there hadn’t been too many risks.  Hell, the guards had been taken out before they realized anything was wrong with the scene they walked in on.

Still, it had probably been a mistake to venture out by herself to take the long route home.  But instinct is basically what she relied when she had started taking missions like this and had to pick locks and get into hard to reach places.  Most equalists knew her as a competent thief, but Aita had mostly gotten that reputation by accident.  Luco had mistakenly thought Amon had specifically been picked out for stealth missions because of her garb and demeanor and had sent her out on a mission after they lost the thief before her.  Aita had been so scared that she’d let half her mind wander as it did when she read palms and somehow successfully completed the mission and set the standard of missions she’d get for the next three years. 

Maybe that’s why Aita had been getting more headaches.  She constantly had some part of her open to receiving at least physical signs of spiritual guidance.  The split she was forcing in her mind between the real world and the Spirit World could be causing a buildup.  Tenzin had always pushed for her to simply live in the moment; he hadn’t wanted her wandering in the spirit world at all when she woke up. He hadn’t even wanted her to acknowledge the spirits that floated through the world, though Aita couldn’t help seeing them even if she was completely in the present.

The city seemed to sigh again and Aita frowned.  Republic City had a mind of its own.  Literally.  It wasn’t quite alive, but it definitely had a likeness.  It grew on people, stayed in their hearts, lived through their actions, and grew with its generations.  Republic City changed with a breath, it gave with a sigh, and it mourned with a flower.  Aita had felt it since she set foot back on the main land after she had woken up to the real world.  It showed her its heart and it watched her with the eyes of a mother with a thousand children.  The city allowed each wonder and every tragedy, the only time it really seemed to throw it’s weight around was when some tried to leave or enter.  It was a jealous city, not wanting to give its loved ones up and many people who tried to leave either couldn’t in the end or they came back eventually.  On the flip side, the city wasn’t very open to new people, not many ended up making it in the city if the city itself never excepted them.

So why was it so restless that night?  Aita walked the streets, letting her feet lead her to wherever the city was taking her.  It was dark, and there wasn’t too much activity.  Sota had kicked her out of bed the night before.  Well, he’d done so nicely, and he thought he was doing his sister a favor by giving her permission to abandon him and stay fulltime with whoever she was shaking up with. Aita got the feeling he was hoping this would mean they got to spend more time outside of work together, or that he’d get to meet a friend his sister was able to make without his help.

Aita wasn’t sure how she was going to break it to him that it wasn’t going to happen.

Aita also wondered where she’d sleep now.  Yeah, she only slept three to four hours a night.  Less than that now.  But, as much as she hated it, she did have to sleep eventually or she’d crash.  She could only live off caffeine for so long.  Aita could ask Amon if she could stay with him or at one of his hideouts, but it was awkward enough how often they slept together, and it was only when she’d worked herself so hard that she wasn’t really thinking about what the man was suggesting, or when she had been too hurt to protest.  She didn’t want to seem even weaker by requiring him to give her a place to stay.  Aita could sleep at one of the children centers Bethai setup, but she’s not a child any longer.  She couldn’t get an apartment, even if she had a group to split the cost with, she got so little from her job she was having trouble buying basic things, she might have to give up her coffee to save on costs, or maybe breakfast altogether. Aita also could go to one of the homeless shelters, but it would be easier just to kip on the floor in one of the warehouses. 

Speaking of apartment complexes.  This one was nice enough, not in the best part of town , but not too shabby either.  Aita hoisted herself on the outside stairs and then casually walked the rest of the way up to third floor.  The window she wanted was cracked open and didn’t creak when Aita pushed it the rest of the way up so she could slip into the room. 

There was a weird play of light across the woodwork.  It was muted and threw shadows everywhere.  Even more interesting, it seemed to come from candles.  Aita lifted one as she walked from the kitchen into what she guessed was the main living room, before she turned to the rather morbid scene at the other end.  A young man with bags under his eyes and greasy dark brown wavy hair sat with tears streaming down his face and a flat knife on his wrist.  She thought she recognized the boy; he looked like the Pro-bender that had begged Amon to do anything but take away his bending. 

His sobs broke and the knife he was holding fell to the ground.  As Aita walked forward, she observed the now nonbender.  He had little cuts up and down his hand.  None of them were deep, and only some of them were still bleeding.  He looked completely distraught, his body shaking uncontrollably as he sobbed and wailed into his hands.  Aita wasn’t sure what she could do, or why the city felt something for this bender.  It usually didn’t mind death.  The city didn’t revel in it, but it didn’t stop it either.  A death in the city was an absorption of a soul, not a loss of one. 

Aita kneeled down and took the knife by the young man’s side and read the inscription carved into its handle.  _To those who reach to the moon_.  She took the sheath lain to the front of the boy and slipped the knife in.  The sound of the sheathing knife finally caught the young man’s attention and he turned to look at her.  First surprise, then fear, then anger clouding his expression.  Aita struck out before he could, even from their positions, she was easily able to overpower and disable any movements. 

Aita stared down and wasn’t sure what to do.  She couldn’t leave him; the city would probably give her a headache, or enforce its own melancholy on her or something. But Aita didn’t see how she was supposed to help him.  She couldn’t take him with her.  Well, she could.  Alright, so she was, but Amon wasn’t going to be happy with her. 

Aita trekked to the streets and wondered how many times she was going to be expected to lug a man through half the streets to get him back to Amon.  Amon wasn’t happy to see her burden when she made it back to him.  Well, she wasn’t sure if he was or not.  She’d dragged the former bender with her through his window.  He’d just stared at her for a few moments before disappearing.  Aita relaxed in his chair, staring at the young man and trying not to fall asleep.  She’d gagged, bound, and blindfolded the now nonbender and then wandered around for two hours hoping the boy didn’t know the city well enough to guess where they were at one time. 

He was leaned over, awake; just not struggling anymore. 

“So, Amon said you had…” Aita was shocked to see a sleepy, slightly disheveled Bethai walking in, flanked by Amon and Lee.  The woman and Lee stopped in shock while Amon walked to stand behind the bound boy. “Is that Tahno?”

Bethai quickly shook off the remnants of sleep and walked forward to start poking and prodding at the boy.  The now nonbender flinched and tried to get away from Bethai, but the old woman seemed determined to check him thoroughly.

“He looks in bad shape.  Where did you find him?” asked Bethai.  Aita took out the knife and tossed it to the woman.

“He had this on his wrist,” she said with a shrug.

“All those who oppose us are our enemies,” said Amon.  Bethai rolled her eyes.

“Then most of the world is our enemy,” said Bethai. “Spirit is right.  We need converts.”

“Are you sure that’s the reason she brought him?” asked Lee.

“I can’t think of any other reason she would have,” said Bethai. “Unless she’s friends with him and was hoping we’d know how to help him.  Which amounts to the same thing.  We need to convert him.  You didn’t lead him straight here did you?”

Aita shook her head.

“Good, we’ll move him to a different location so if he does eventually betray us, than at least he won’t reveal an important location to the city,” said Bethia. “Lee get a couple of the boys up here.  We need a satomobile to get Tahno good and lost again.  Amon, I’ll need the contact information for Gir and a location you don’t mind giving up.  Spirit, is Tahno important to you?”

Aita shook her head.  Bethai continued to pet the shaking nonbender as she talked and directed them.  It wasn’t long before he was taken away. 

“As I said Spirit.  You’re easy to underestimate,” said Amon. “You sure that bender wasn’t a friend of yours?”

Aita shook her head.  She wasn’t sure what lie to give though, so she didn’t try to elaborate.

“Very well,” said Amon with a sigh. “While you’re here you might as well handover the blueprints and look over my next speech.  Bethai’s already butchered it, but I would appreciate your input.”

Aita stayed the night reading and listening to Amon’s plans and goals.  He spent some time thinking over how to convert nonbenders and told Aita he hoped many benders would see it his way, and that some might even ask him, eventually, to take their bending.  He wasn’t overly optimistic.  He knew his aggressive attacks would alienate a lot of benders who he took power away from, but he had hope for the general population, the ones undermined and only slightly more fortuitous than their nonbending halves. 

Aita spent the night there, not getting any sleep, but she didn’t really mind. 


	8. Bloodbending

At midnight they were going to raid a bending factory.  Aita didn’t know why, or what the real goal was.  They were just supposed to take stuff.   In other words, they were the distraction.  Amon had chosen a more covert group to carry out a special mission.  Aita didn’t know what it was, and didn’t know if Amon would ever tell her.  It was all very slapdash and last minute.  Aita didn’t like it, usually they had plenty of time to prepare, to figure out scenarios and decrease the possibilities of losing men.  This distraction had too many ways for it to go wrong or just not work.  For one thing, the explosives they were going to set up didn’t seem that stable, and their escape routes seemed to be begging for a metal bending cop to find someone and bring them in for questioning. 

Still, Amon had been clear that he wanted the mission carried out that night.  Everyone seemed a little tense.  Lee wasn’t happy, he’d left with Amon, but his expression had been grim.  He’d given Aita a letter, he said if something ever happened, to give it to his wife.  Aita was interested in reading it.  Knowing Lee, it was probably filled with predictable apologies and an explanation on why he fighting for the side he was.  But he could have written something else, something more interesting. 

Unfortunately it wasn’t Aita’s place to read it, and she did respect Lee’s space and his decisions, no matter how stupid they seemed to be.  Still, she needed to get ready.  She checked on Dou, he wasn’t going to join them, but this was his spot for the day and he was putting in training while he still could, though Aita had warned him not to wear them out.  She stood from her spot and signaled the training to stop.  All the men turned to look at her and she nodded, ready to get them organized and leave. 

“Spirit,” Aita turned, one her comrades, only dressed in a simple training suite.  Easy to move in clothes and a mask the only covered the lower part of their face.  He looked a little beat up and straining to breathe.  “There’s been attack.  Tarlock’s men attacked the chi blocking camp under the Rutha’s firebending school.”

Aita was a bit shocked, one that was a great and confusing hiding spot, and two, how did that even work?  Was there supposed to be some sort of understanding? 

“Spirit?” asked Dou.  She glanced in his direction before sighing.  She looked at him and signaled half the group behind him then motioned for him to get the explosives.  As long as they made enough fuss, than it would be fine.  Plus, it sounded like Tarlock was already using a good amount of his forces on this raid. She then signaled the rest of the group to them. 

“We have to be careful, both the avatar and Tarlock are there,” said the student.  Aita sighed.

She had the escaped chi blocker lead the way, while she would have rather sent him to the trainers they had on hand, Aita had no idea where she was going.  They needed to do this carefully and swiftly.  With both the avatar and Tarlock, they couldn’t stay for a big fight.  Their main objective had to be getting the chi blockers out with as few casualties as possible.  Hopefully keeping from an actual fight as well as possible.

The cops were dragging the chi blockers up to the top floor.  Aita sent a couple of her soldiers down to search the underground.  Best way to get out, probably, and it was best to take out whatever cops were already down there and rally whatever chi blockers who might have hidden themselves.  She quickly send a few to disable the vehicles and the men ready to take her men away.  Aita entered in through the underground as soon as it was confirmed it was safe.  They were holding her chi blockers in a mostly secured room.  No windows or skylight, two doors, and minimal room to hide. 

Aita brought them in close and then held up a hand.  She eased the door open a smidge.  No sign of the avatar or Tarlock.  The cops all looked like competent benders, but they weren’t being as diligent as they should be.  Aita held up her hand and caught a bit of light, shining it in one of the chi blockers eyes.  The woman flinched a little but finally looked up to see Aita.  She quickly lowered her head, a small bob making Aita hope that meant the woman understood code.  She quickly changed to hands, the woman’s eyes glancing up as stealthily as she could.  At the end the woman stretched her own fingers as well as she could around the bounds securing her hands.  Thankfully they were mostly free.  Aita waited another breath for the message to get past around, a slight shuffle from the woman and then most the chi blockers seemed to understand that they needed to brace themselves. 

Aita snapped her fingers and ran in, her men instantly following her.  She struck up at the first bender she came in contact with, his water bending stopping mid wave and crashing back to the ground.  She quickly incapacitated him and struck him so he’d fall unconscious.  The other benders were taken out with similar precision, and Aita was able to go to the closest chi blocker and untie them.  She stood quickly and signaled them to continue before she froze.  Looked like Tarlock and the avatar were below, they’d caught the men she’d sent underground, but they’d gotten a signal to the men outside.  Aita swore under her breath and signaled everyone up.  The perimeter would be secured outside; they’d passed a couple heading over, but this time the cops would be looking for anyone suspicious.  Going underground back to base would have been best, but it looked like they’d have to scatter and go over the rooftops for as long as possible. 

The attic had one window, the climb was tricky, but one of the more agile chi blockers was able to get onto the roof and then secure a rope for everyone else Aita looked over the chi blockers with one of the men she brought with her who moonlighted as a healer and trainer.  Some of the chi blockers had been frozen in ice and were shivering uncontrollably because of it.  They were being checked for any damage to skin and nerve.  One of the chi blockers had a sprained ankle, foot caught by one of the earth benders and while his body kept moving forward.  The healer agreed to take the man with him to a safe place and Aita was soon helping to support them out the window.  As she reached for the rope, instinct, a small nagging in back of her mind, had her quickly retreating.  A thick sheet of ice appeared where her arm had been and Aita turned to see Tarlock staring at her from the stairs leading up the attic. 

The man sneered and Aita dodge to the side, her movements mimicking his to a certain extent.  He’d have to believe her instinct to draw back had been her waterbending warning her, and her abandonment of the ice due to a need to stall the waterbender from getting her men.  The water bender continued to throw sheet after sheet of ice her way and Aita dodged and jumped them to the best of her ability.  He had amazing control, and she was having trouble getting close enough to incapacitate him. 

A cyclone of water appeared around him, and Aita quickly ran for cover.

“So little equalist, you think that I can’t tell you’re not a waterbender?” asked Tarlock.

“Tarlock, you got someone up here?” asked what sounded like the avatar.

“A girl who moves like a waterbender.  I got her cornered,” said Tarlock.  Aita cursed her stupidity.  Tarlock might be an idiot, but he was a well known and accomplished waterbender.  Aita might be able to fool the everyday man, but masters were not as easy to fool.

“Come out little equalist,” said the avatar, the sound of bending fire filing the attic.  Aita crept to the side and then jumped as the avatar threw her fire at her. “Tarlock, guard the door.  I’ve got her.”

The avatar sounded pissed off.  Aita wasn’t really surprised.  Aita quickly changed stances, shifting more into an airbender stance.  Might as well play to an unknown then a certainty.  She quickly dodged to the side and ran forward.  The avatar made two twin daggers, a questionable move.  While the ceiling was a plate of metal, the rest of the building was made of wood.  Not that the fact would stop many firebenders.  Aita ran forward and quickly rolled to dodge the blades, she stood up behind the avatar and got one jab onto the back of her leg when she had to keep flipping when a wave of ice water came toward her.

“Tarlock,” said the avatar in annoyance.  Aita quickly ran forward and jumped when the avatar tried to use the water that had trapped her a moment ago to catch Aita.  She used the avatars shoulders as a springboard and got close enough to Tarlock to attack his arms before she moved to the side.  Tarlock tripped her to the side and Aita flinched as fire caught her on her side and sent her tumbling into the wall.  Thankfully it had broken against her side and only slightly singe her clothing and nothing more serious.  Aita kept running across to the shadows.  Getting out of here was going to be a problem.  She switched directions twice as the avatar sent a fume of fire to either side of her.

“Spirit,” shouted Dou.  Aita blinked, catching the rope that fell down to her.  She grabbed it and hoisted herself up even as the avatar sent more fire in her direction. “Best get out of here as soon possible.”

Aita nodded, not sure why Dou had come to save her, but grateful all the same. They quickly took off toward the warehouse. 

The place was full with the men Dou had taken with him.  There were also a couple of Aita’s with a chi blocker, the others had scattered and hopefully would be noting their success with one of their training grounds somewhere. 

Aita sighed and rubbed at her shoulder.  Her blood was boiling under her skin.  Odd, Tarlock had seemed odd to her.  Different in a way that shook her entire body.  Wrong, but a familiar wrong, the type that sang at the base of her skull and wanted to drag memories that were both foreign and familiar to her.  A hand clasped Aita’s shoulder and she nodded, quickly taking off after Dou so they could debrief each other the situation. 

The days seemed to turn darker.  Aita holed herself in whatever warehouse she could, in corners left unused or cupboards long forgotten.  There were still chores for equalists to carry out, but that also became a liability as the day after the attack on the chi blockers, Tarlock announced through his puppet chief that all nonbenders had a curfew and could be arrested under the slightest doubt of being a bender.

This was what Amon had wanted, but when Aita came in that night after hearing her brother rant and rail against the new laws, calling them unfair and then making Aita promise she would go to her new home early and not break curfew.  Amon hadn’t been happy.  Aita found that Amon felt Tarlock’s actions were too aggressive too soon.  At this rate he’d fuck up even earlier than they’d intended.  Amon would have preferred Tarlock keep his silver tongue, push issues, this law, things like that.  But his actions had completely alienated the avatar.  Apparently she didn’t approve of the law, or so the radio and Sota told Aita.  Amon would have preferred that the avatar disapprove, but continue to support Tarlock to close to the end.

And then an entire district of nonbenders was arrested along with all of the avatars helpers.  Amon was furiously reworking his plans to get rid of Tarlock or remove his bending.   For one thing, Tarlock was losing his edge; even the chief under his command was showing signs of turning against the waterbender.  The avatar was probably planning his death and beyond the man’s manipulation.  Plus, while the district was one that housed mostly nonbenders, it wasn’t a rule, and awkwardly enough, over a third of the people who’d actually been arrested had been benders who had been too afraid to use their bending in defense against cops, especially when they saw what happened to the avatars friends.

“Something happen?” asked Aita as she sat down next to Amon. “You find out why the council was a mess?”

“The avatar’s gone missing,” said Amon gravely.  Aita froze and then sighed. “Tarlock has named us as main suspects, and the avatar’s friends have been busted out of jail.”

“Typical,” said Mr. Sato. 

“So we’ve be attacked,” said Lee.

“Are any of our locations vulnerable?” asked Luco.

“The underground,” said Lee. 

“But we’ve blocked all the ones leading from Mr. Sato’s home,” said Bethai. 

“But it isn’t hard to guess where a good deal of our prisoners and assembly lines would be,” said Amon.

“And they’ve already attacked and left,” said Lee.

“What?” asked Bethai. “Those tunnels lead to some important sites.  Why wasn’t I told about this before now?”

“They will not work against us now.  They have an even greater enemy.  It turns out that councilman Tarlock is a blood bender,” said Amon.  “I don’t know their exact plans, but I think our next target is obvious.”

“Are you sure?  This would be a good time to regroup ourselves and secure our locations,” said Luco. “We can’t give up the underground for good, but we can setup dummy areas.  We should also call Rebc, she’ll know what to do and bring us more locations up top.”

“We need to retrieve the avatar, and Tarlock is overdo to have his bending removed.  Luco, you and Bethai start planning our move next.  I don’t care about the prisoners, all their bending has been removed and they’ll spread tales of our success and any information they could have given has already been leaked. However, we need to get the mechatanks and the assembly taken to a more secure location and get word to Mr. Sato of the changes as soon as possible.  Lee and Spirit, you’ll be coming with a small team with me to confront Tarlock.  Thankfully the man was a little too disorganized in his hostage attempt and he and the avatar are the only resistance we’ll find where we’re heading,” said Amon. 

Aita and Lee stood and followed Amon out.  It was odd how many satomobiles could be modified slightly so they could hold prisoners.  That was basically all that they had.  Some to hold the troops, but it was basically the same thing, except that it had been modified so that an earthbender couldn’t easily trap them inside. 

The ride up the mountain was silent.  The troops were a little agitated, and Aita couldn’t help but wonder how Amon had found out that this was where Tarlock was keeping the avatar.  Where would he even go to get that kind of information?  Aita might have been able to find the avatar by following the spirits.  Water snakes, a spirit that caught conversations and imagines and reflected them back.  They swarmed around the avatar for some reason, well; not quite swarm, but Aita had noticed them more than usual. 

It was cold when they finally reached the little cabin.  It wasn’t quite the top of the mountain, but it was close enough.  Aita shivered and glanced up, the moon was clear in the sky, reflecting off the snow and creating enough light to see by.  Amon quickly exited the car and the others followed.  He hadn’t told them anything specific.  Aita wasn’t too worried.  Tarlock probably had the avatar kept locked up somewhere, so she wouldn’t be a problem.  Tarlock wasn’t expecting them, and hopefully was too tense to notice the car driving in.

Aita kept to the back of the group.  Lee glanced down to where it sounded like Tarlock was monologue at the avatar.  Aita couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.  It didn’t take too long for the waterbender to walk up the stairs from the basement.  Tarlock’s eyes widened as he saw them standing in front of him, and then Amon was walking toward him.  Aita tensed, but kept to the shadows, ready to attack if she was needed, even though Amon had plenty equalists to protect him. 

Tarlock immediately attacked himself, and Aita found her entire body tensing and adjusting because Tarlock was trying to blood bend.  Without the full moon. 

A woman, thirsty, hands strung up above her head.  A prisoner, a jailcell.  The only way out.  Control, the overwhelming power of control.  A person’s body completely at her control.  She could make them free her, make them do her will, make them suffer and kill themselves.  Their bodies were hers to control. 

“Spirit?” asked Amon harshly and Aita looked up, breaking free of the vision.  She shook her head and walked forward from where Tarlock was kneeling on the ground.  The man’s face twisted into an angry grimace and he reached forward and Aita felt her blood freeze for a moment in her body before Aita broke out of it. 

“What are you two?” asked Tarlock.  Aita looked down to see the other equalists pushed down to the ground.  So Amon had fought against the blood bending too.  Somehow, Aita wasn’t sure how she was doing it, how had Amon?  Was he more like her than she knew?  Was he connected to the Spirit World like she was?  Is that how he’d shrugged it off?  Was that why she was able to teach him how to remove bending when she couldn’t teach anyone else?

Amon nodded to her as Aita wondered a moment what he meant until it hit her and she looked down at the bound man before her.  Tarlock sneered up at her.  He had water snakes attached to him, only Aita could see it, but they were holding onto him by fangs, leaking his power over waterbending as well as they could.  He hadn’t yet tried to bend actual water, and Aita lifted her hand up to the man’s forehead and with an exhale she removed his bending.  Amon dragged her over Tarlock as the former bender slumped onto the ground.  Aita dragged in a quick breath as Amon pulled her to his body.  His breathing was harsh, and through his mask Aita could see surprise.  His arms squeezed her tighter and he bent his head so their foreheads knocked together with a click of plastic.  And then he let her go, almost pushing her away as he regained control.  Aita stepped back, taking in a deep, shuddering breath, wondering what the odd hug had meant. 

The other equalists stood up now.  Tarlock remained ground, Aita wasn’t sure if he had passed out, or was traumatized by having his bending taken away.  She didn’t care, he was a horrible human being, maybe taking away his bending would make him better, or at least take away his confidence and make him completely ineffectual. 

Aita helped Amon lift the former blood bender as Lee and the others went to retrieve the avatar. 

“What are we doing with her?” Aita asked as they loaded Tarlock in the back.  Aita tied up Tarlock quickly before retreating back into the cold air. 

“Return her back to the airbender,” said Amon.  Aita nodded, but not sure why.  It seemed odd that she didn’t know his motivation for the last day.  Why was he so set on rescuing the avatar?  If they kept her captive they could use her as ransom, really drill fear of equalists into her. 

“And him?” asked Aita. 

“We’ll give him to Gir,” said Amon while sending the man what Aita guessed was a dirty look.  Amon’s voice was dark enough.  Aita walked over to the door, watching as Amon continued to stare at Tarlock.  Aita cocked her head to the side and wondered if this wasn’t about the avatar.  Yeah, Amon wanted the avatar to be there when he took over Republic City, so he’d drag her back if she ran or stolen away.  But this, confronting Tarlock and taking his bending away after showing the former bender that blood bending didn’t work on him, why had Amon done that?  Had this been somehow personal to Amon? 

A person ran past her and Aita reached out fast enough to catch the avatar before she could attack Amon.  An ice crystal skimmed by Aita’s shoulder, making her shiver in pain.  But she continued her assault, hitting the avatars chi points and catching the avatar in her arms as the girl fell.  Aita glanced down at Korra.  The fear in the avatars eyes was palpable. 

“I thought I told you not to underestimate her,” said Amon.  Aita cocked her head before she heard Lee snort.  She looked behind her to see Lee and the other equalists limping out the mountain cabin. “Knock her out Spirit.”

Aita did so and then pushed the avatar at Amon.  Amon quickly bound the avatar and pushed the avatar into the mobile without any grace.  Aita got in the back, followed by the other equalists.  Amon gave them all quick instructions to make sure the avatar stayed down and unconscious.  Aita had a feeling the instructions were mostly for her since the others had failed to knock out the avatar before.  Aita kept up a steady bit of pressure on chi points, but she didn’t worry too much about keeping the avatar under.  They’d probably drop Korra off at the earliest convenience, somewhere just outside or inside Republic City where someone could find her, preferably benders that wouldn’t capture or kill her. 

“Spirits,” shouted one of the equalists.  Aita gripped hard onto her seat as the entire car rocked back and forth.  Fear made her heart beat widely for a second, but she quickly pushed it away so she could stand when the car skidded and spun on the icy road.  A deep growling howl filled the mobile and Aita forced herself to the doors and flung them open even as they came to a stop a little off the road.  A white bear dog growled at her as it stood two feet away. 

“Shh,” said Aita and the thing growled again, stalking toward her.  Aita remembered this beast.  It was the one that she’d almost run into when she’d tried to assassinate Tenzin.  She dropped out of the back and tried to look as nonthreatening as she could.

“Wait,” she told Lee as he tried to run past her, his batons crackling from the electrical charge that flowed through it. “That’s the avatar’s.”

“So?” asked Lee.  Aita just signaled him back and took another step toward the bear dog. 

“We have the avatar,” said Aita slowly and gently. “And we just want to take her home.”

The bear dog growled lowly again, but then its ears fell and then he sat down, whimpering.  Aita breathed a sigh of relief and was surprised when she turned and saw that the other equalists were already supporting Korra out of the mobile and toward the bear dog under Amon’s eyes.  Aita walked slowly ahead of them and ran her hand along the beasts head soothingly as the others carefully loaded Korra onto the beast’s back.  When they were done the bear dog ducked his head and flipped Aita onto his back. 

“Spirit?” asked Amon.

“I’ll make sure the avatar gets home safe,” Aita said to Amon.  Amon touched her leg and adjusted Korra so that Aita could grip the avatar better.

“You’ll keep safe?  Make sure they don’t capture you?” asked Amon.

“They haven’t yet,” said Aita with a smile, and then she grabbed onto Korra and the bear dog as they took off in leaps and bounds down the mountain.  The creature wasn’t as fast as a satomobile could be, but it didn’t have to follow the road, and cold weather was something it was used to.  Aita snuggled into the creature’s fur.  Even though she’d never ridden on anything but a skybison and the occasional satomobile, she was able to stay on with little trouble even as she tried to keep the avatar firmly on the dog bear.

Unfortunately the avatars friends hadn’t left the city yet and the bear dog was deep in before it finally skidded to a halt.   Aita felt a little stiff by then.  Her limbs didn’t really want to move. 

“Korra?” shouted someone.  They ran up and started to pull Korra from Aita’s arms.  Aita glanced to see Mako looking more than a little concerned.  Aita glared at the boy, that was right.  There was some sort of weird love triangle in the avatar group.   Everyone wanted the wrong person, well, sort of. 

Aita leaned over and placed her fingers on Mako’s forehead. “Dumb, dumb.”

Aita ducked and threw herself backward as two metal bending ropes flew close to her body.  She ducked behind the bear dog and then pelted toward the closest alleyway.  She headed into the dark, sighing in contentment as she went to the side and then reversed so she could get a good look.  Mako had carried the avatar to a satomobile and was loading her in.  The others were looking around, paranoid about what was going on.  They probably didn’t expect an equalist to return their avatar.  Hopefully the avatar would wake them up and fill them on what happened.

Aita turned to leave and almost jumped out of her skin when she briefly caught Tenzin’s eyes.  She quickly made her retreat.  The less time she spent around the man she tried to kill, the better. 

Aita made it back to the warehouse they had been at originally and was sent away to another by one of Bethai’s frantic secretaries.  Amon was overseeing the last of the prisoners being removed. Aita perched herself next to her as Amon watched over the now nonbenders impassively.  Aita was surprised that these men and women were still with them.  Hadn’t someone mentioned that the ex-chief had freed her people when the avatar’s friends had come into the equalists homes?  Why hadn’t she freed all of the prisoners?  Had it really been too much trouble? 

Aita sighed.  Politics really could make her head pound the way nothing else could.

“You were able to resist the blood bending,” said Amon.  Aita glanced over at the man.  He was now leaning against the railing, back straight, gazing down on his followers, but his words were obviously directed at Aita.  Aita had a quick flash of an old woman, laughing into the night, a young waterbending crying.  Blood benders always taught their children the trick.  They always tried to teach the next generation how to blood bend and they almost always succeeded, and then the child almost always eventually became a blood bender, the power and control the blood bending allowed them was too great and intoxicating for them to resist.  The knowledge filled Aita, like the knowledge on how to waterbend, firebend, earthbend, or airbend.  Aita absorbed it and sighed.

“So could you,” she pointed out.

“It’s a trick.  Bending is always a trick, an impurity,” said Amon.

“Amon,” Aita warned.  Amon sighed this time.

“Benders are impure,” he asserted.

“And I’m backing Bethai’s decision for you to find another word,” said Aita. “Equalists was bad enough.  But the connotation is something that anyone can agree with.  Everyone wants equality, and if they don’t than they pretend they do.  It’s a word that evokes sympathy.  It draws in a positive in the person’s mind.  Someone might find themselves simply agreeing with us before they know what we’re about just because of that stupid word you choose.  Impurities does not have a positive connotation.  You say you’re removing an impurity and it sounds like you’re removing something subjective.  Like you’re some sort of snob that doesn’t like a stain on your shirt or the way someone else lives their life simply because it’s different from yours.  Call it a burden.  That’s fine.  Sounds like you’re removing something harmful to the people you take bending from.”

“I already had this conversation,” said Amon.  Aita just smiled and hummed. 

“You’re not the only one whose dreams and beliefs are on the line Amon.  We can’t lose this battle.  The world is overrun by benders who hurt and extort everyone around them.  They are the ones poisoning our streets, starting gang wars, starting wars, vying for power, and every day they run lose, we lose innocents,” said Aita.  Amon nodded and patted Aita’s knee.

“And that’s why it’s always best to hear the truth from you,” said Amon with a chuckle. “You’ll give me the same speech as Bethai, but then you’ll give me the brooder scope to help me see the big picture outside our little city.”

“I thought I was horrible at being sentimental?” asked Aita.

“No, you’re bad at pretending to be sentimental.  You’re also blunt,” said Amon. “Well, at least harsh.”

They fell into silence again.  Aita swung her legs back and forth and then sneezed.  The cold must have gotten to her.  And sneezing inside a mask was completely disgusting.  She wasn’t even sure how she was going to clean it. 

Amon chuckled and disappeared.  Aita glared after him and then went back to her vision.  The girl who had eventually become a blood bender.  Her name had been Hama. A water bender stolen by the firebenders during the One Hundred Year War.  She had learned blood bending so she could runaway.  She had watched as all her fellow warriors had slowly died, none of them allowed to commit suicide.  They had wasted away and before she had found blood bending she had been close to death.  And then she hadn’t been able to leave the Fire Nation, and eventually she hadn’t wanted to because she found a way to have revenge on the firebenders.

 “Here,” said Amon, shoving a handkerchief under Aita’s nose. She took it and cautiously reached under her mask to wipe up the snot and spit. “You should probably head home.  I’ll see you tomorrow.  The guards will need to be coached so they’re ready for the rally.”

Aita nodded and turned so she could jump off the railing.  She wasn’t sure where she should try to sleep, and it was only midnight.  But she did need some rest and there had to be a closet somewhere she could hide herself. 


	9. The Airbender

“You found someone?” asked Aita as she sat down next to Amon.  Amon looked from where the mechatank was being made.  The rally took place across the city, but it was best not to draw attention to what was going on.  Not that this was a better place to be.  Well, several of those things apparently worked so they could fight with them if the metalbending cops or team avatar showed up so soon after Korra’s abduction.

“My wife,” said Lee, standing tall with no emotion on his face.  So it probably wasn’t his idea, or it was and he was having second thoughts.  Aita was pretty sure that Lee’s wife would not be thrilled about losing her bending. 

“As long as she’s not pregnant,” said Aita.  She was glad she found out about this before Amon did something stupid.  She’d meditated on the power.  It had limits, not all of them were explored, and the answers she got made her wish she’d gotten them from a soothsayer who spoke in rhyme and riddles.  At least than she might be able to work through to the right answer.  But from observation and understanding certain rules about how bending and this worked together, she did learn about some of its limitations.

“Why would that matter?” asked Lee.

“If the kids a bender than it’ll be rooted when it’s born if the mother’s bending is taken away,” said Aita with a shrug.

“You’re sure?” asked Amon.  Aita glanced at him and shrugged.

“I’ve meditated on it,” Lee snorted. “Meditating helps calm and make it easier to properly set your mind.  That’s why benders do it, but it’s useful for us normal folks too.”

“You two are not normal,” said Lee. “And don’t argue that.  You both were completely unaffected by Tarlock’s waterbending.”

“Easy,” said Aita. “If you know how to negate someone’s bending than you know how to negate it within yourself.”

“You’re chatty,” grumbled Lee.  Aita rolled her eyes.

“Or you could believe that we’re both Spirits come to bring about the new order,” said Aita dryly. 

“Please don’t even joke about that,” said Lee with a groan.  Aita chuckled and Amon was watching their interaction impassively.  It was always hard to tell what Amon was thinking.  It wasn’t just that his face was masked, but that anywhere he went outside his quarters, he always tried to seem relaxed, but was always looked on guard.  It made the atmosphere around him have the right amount of brutally tense, but it also made reading him hard since he always conveyed a feeling of disinterest unapproved when they teased each other like this. 

“Don’t know if it’s because of the rapid development or what it is.  You’d think it’d either just take the baby’s bending away or have no effect.  But actually, the first is accurate.  It does take away the baby’s bending, but the mind still develops as if it is a bender and as a result…” Aita shrugged.

“What about after they’re born?” asked Amon.

“That should be fine,” said Aita.  “In the womb is where the foundation and connection is established.  Everything after is discovery and temperance.”

“And I suppose meditating is all you need to figure out this little tidbit?” said Luco, appearing out from wherever he had been sulking.  Lee stood closer to Aita and put his hands on her shoulder. “We know we have a leak that hasn’t been isolated yet, and Spirit has always known just a little too much about bending to be comfortable.”

“You forget Luco,” said Lee harshly. “That when Spirit first showed up she wore the mask not to copy Amon, but because she was afraid of what would happen if the people she knew suspected she was just a chi blocker.  She has her reasons.”

Luco snorted. “That only makes her less trustworthy.  Come on Spirit.  Take off that mask and show me who you are, and I’ll retract my accusations.”

“Spirit,” said Amon sharply, taking a few steps to flank Aita.  Aita glanced at Luco; the irate equalist took a step back.  While he had enough influence and guts to stand up to Lee, they’re leader was now showing disapproval in how far he was pushing the issue. “She will remove her mask only when I tell her too.  It is not up for you or her to decide.”

The atmosphere was tense.  The men stared at each and Aita found herself giggling.  They all turned their heads to her. 

“Twenty-five assassinations, five nonbenders, eleven earthbenders, one airbender, three firebenders, and five firebenders,” said Aita staring at the sky. “And one of those people I knew well.”

“What?” asked Lee.

“Don’t get me wrong, if it had been worth saving them then I would have risked revealing my identity, suggested some alternative even when we were more limited.  The ability to take bending really is a blessing,” said Aita.

“But they weren’t worth it?” asked Luco, skeptically.  Aita shook her head.

“They needed to be removed,” she said, and then she shrugged.  “I am not going to risk reaching our goals by being faint of heart.  I’ll do what is necessary.”

“Why are you telling us this?” asked Luco.  Aita shrugged.

“I can only keep this up for so long.  Eventually I will be found out, maybe not as Spirit, but as a chi blocker and equalist certainly.  They’re already suspicious of the amount of time I stay out at night.  It’s just a waiting game at this point, so I don’t mind giving you a ‘clue’,” said Aita.

“Not much of a clue.  I only know about five of them,” said Lee.

“You’ve had a couple of failures,” Luco pointed out.

“Enough,” said Amon. “I trust Spirit implicitly. Her contributions and insights have shown and proven her loyalty has no fault.  She has always been upfront about her views and beliefs.  She shows openly she’s had the training of a bender and let Orlang look over her to make sure she wasn’t one.  She also admits to knowing and being surrounded by benders, but that this fact makes her the most knowledgeable about how bending corrupts all that wield its power.”

“Actually, besides my identity, I’ve been upfront about my views even when they clashed with Amon’s.  You on the other hand, Luco.  I, at least, know next to nothing about you.  You came in sometime before me, but no one can pinpoint from where.  And, unless I missed my mark, Amon can tell you more about my personal life than he can about yours,” said Aita, unkindly, childish, but turn about was fair play.

“Enough, this is not the place to have this discussion,” snapped Amon.  Luco glared at Aita and Aita returned that glare.  Luco bowed and then walked away.  Aita followed him before she quickly lifted her mask a little so she could catch a sneeze with her other hand.  She quickly wiped her hand on her clothes to which Lee made a slightly disgusted noise at. 

“You alright Spirit?” asked Lee.

“I’ve only sneezed a couple of times,” Aita pointed out as she leaned back from the box to watch the assembly line.  A few equalists were subtly still watching them while doing their various jobs.

“You’re stuffy, I can hear that even through your mask, and you’ve been massaging your head since you arrived,” said Lee.  Aita quickly removed her hands from where she’d been trying to ease the ache under her mask.  The migraine had her a bit irritable.  She shouldn’t have snapped at Luco.  Not that the men hadn’t deserved it, but they were in front comrades, equalists who looked up to them as examples of what it was be an equalists.  They should not be seen fighting.

“It’s just the sniffles. I’m fine,” said Aita.

“Ah, good, Amon has expressed an interest in test driving a mechatank.  I would be honored if you would also consider it,” said Mr. Sato.  It seemed that the production was going along faster than Aita had thought, or it had come to a point where the man could trusts his ‘employees’ to continue without his constant hovering.

“I would be happy to see the inside of one again,” Aita said.  She’d let Amon play with it.  Aita wasn’t interested being locked in one of those things.  She knew that the earth benders couldn’t bend it, but that didn’t stop the fear that trickled through Aita’s veins when she looked at one of the monstrosities. 

Amon and Lee started to head toward the mechatanks.  Aita sighed and made to stand.  She didn’t quite understand the obsession these things, they were useful, but the way Amon and Lee talked about them, even Dou, Aita could also have believed the mechatanks were really giant toys.

Aita opened her eyes in the Spirit World.  Her eyes widened and she quickly retreated until her back hit the back of a tree, her feet sinking deeply into the mud and her breathing erratic.  Alright, so she’d fallen into the Spirit World again.  Maybe it was because she’d gone there recently.  While Aita had never fallen into the Spirit World when she was sick before, maybe the fact she was sick so close to dragging herself out of the Spirit World might have been why she was back so soon.

A shiver and a sheen of sweat broke out over Aita as she forced herself back onto land.  The water held many dangers in it, reflections and dreams and a call that Aita found hypnotic and guessed her younger self had too.  So, better to stay on land where it was harder for the mind to wander.

Aita squeaked a little as she found herself teleported.  The landscape had changed drastically.  She seemed to be standing in the midst of clouds, though her feet were what felt like solid ground.  She was knee deep in clouds though, so she couldn’t see if there really was anything solid through the fluffy mess. Aita frowned; the fluffy mess was currently soaking her through to the bone. 

It seemed odd to be in the sky though.  What would be the sky for the ground?  Aita looked up and found herself looking at the earth.  Well, the Spirits World version of the earth, which was muted yellow and seemed to be moving past an ocean.  Aita felt gravity start to tug at her.  It had to exist somehow, in some form of logic in this world, right?  A scream caught itself in her throat. 

“Hang on Spirit Girl,” Aita choked a little as Aang caught her by the collar. “It’s the Spirit World, the sky can be the ground.”

Aita nodded and tried to believe.  She ended up closing her eyes and then looking at the clouds, reminding her of the firm surface just below them.  And this was the Spirit World, and as far as Aita knew, she had traipsed through as a child hadn’t she?  So, yeah, sky could be ground and ground could be sky, because one of the rules about the Spirit World was that it was all about perspective.  Gravity took a turn and Aita crashed on top of the avatar, her head ringing with the impact. 

“Didn’t you ever come here as a kid?” asked Aang.

“I don’t remember,” said Aita. “Probably.  Wait, are you the reason I’m here?”

“You aren’t doing your job,” said the eleven year old past avatar.

“You can’t just drag me into the Spirit World like this.  For one thing, your own son thinks it’s a bad idea,” shouted idea.

“My son is very spiritual, but also very stubborn,” said Aang. “I’m sure that you’ll be able to prove how spiritual you are and that you’re really connected to the Spirit World.  Especially once you reach Korra.  I think the best thing to do is take Korra to the Southern Air Temple and to the chamber there during um, nothing soon, so do it during the changing of the winds.  It’ll open her mind…”

“You made me faint in front of people’s who… opinion I care about,” said Aita, she hoped the last avatar didn’t notice that she had hesitated.

“You know, you look like Katara when you’re mad.  You know, except she was taller and had hair loopies,” said Aang happily.  Aita’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m going back,” she said, turning away and appearing so she was facing the mirrored trees.

“Wait,” said Aang, also coming along. “Please, you have to help Korra.  My stubborn son will see that you can teach Korra to be a bridge.”

“That’s not the only problem,” said Aita. “I’m not a bridge Aang.  I don’t know what you knew about those who were rooted back when you lived.  But we exist within the element we were supposed to bend.”

“You’re connected to it, like a bender, but unable to affect it,” said Aang, stating the loose definition of someone who was rooted.

“A bender uses movements to control the earth; it’s an extension outside of themselves.  But first they must be connected to the element with a Spiritual tie.  Few are born with the necessary connection, and some born with this connection are stuck within that element they become a part of it.  Normal benders have a connection, but they’re in control of it.  They don’t live within the element, they are separate and in control of it.  Rooted have no control; their minds are connected irreversibly with the element they were supposed to bend.  It’s why they can predict the change in the element near them.  They feel it as it happens.  The only reason I interact with the Spirit World is because it doesn’t function the same way the real world does.”

“But you are between.  You can go between,” Aang pointed out.  Aita sighed and kneaded her forehead. 

“Only because your son was stubborn and I figured out a trick to get out,” said Aita. 

“Yeah, right, the trick,” said Aang with a disgusted expression.  “Is the motion necessary?”

“It’s a focal point.  It’s how I get into the right mindset to leave.  Tenzin and my brother say I do it whenever I get a headache,” said Aita. The last avatar made an odd face.  Aita tried to look in the mirrors to see if she could leave.  Somehow, she didn’t think it would go over well if she never woke up and her fellow equalists had to start looking for who she really was.  The fact she had a bending twin might not be a big deal, but that she was on almost friendly terms with the avatar might not go over well.  “Get out of my way.”

“Please, promise me you’ll help Korra,” said Aang with big eyes.

“I’ll think about it,” snapped Aita.  Not that she would.  Hopefully Sota wouldn’t pursue a friendship with the girl because she lived primarily on Air Temple Island.  He might even pull away from Bolin and Mako a little.  While Sota had seemed fine on the island when they were there for the festival, afterwards he hardly talked about it.  Something hadn’t happened that he wanted to. 

Aita scowled at the last avatar until he backed away, put her hand up to her forehead, and woke up in the real world, sick.

“Spirit,” said Lee, he was sitting near the end of her bed holding what looked like take-away soup. “That was a dramatic.”

Aita looked around her a little before lifting her mask a little to sneeze.  Amon, who was sitting next to her, handed her a tissue.  Aita nodded in thanks, wiped up the bit of spit on her hand and then blew her noise. 

She was in Amon’s room again, sitting up in his bed with the covers pooled around her.  Aita was thankful that this time she was completely dressed.  Though the fact that she kept ending up here wasn’t good.

“Sorry,” said Aita.  Lee handed her the soup.

“You’re the poster child for the reason we don’t work when we’re sick,” said Lee. “I’ll see you when you’re better.”

Lee walked out of the room and Aita turned to Amon.  She pushed up her mask a smidge so she could eat her soup.

“It’s really not that bad,” said Aita, flinching a little at how nasally her voice sounded.

“You fainted,” said Amon.  Aita sighed before taking another bite of soup.

“Just a moment of weakness.  I stood up too quickly.  I should really get to coaching the guards for tomorrow,” said Aita.

“First I need to find a new centerpiece and write a new speech,” said Amon. 

“You need help?” asked Aita.                                 

“Are you willing to turn over some of your bending friends?” asked Amon, his voice teasing.  Aita rolled her eyes.

“There’s a reason why I’m a part of this revolution,” Aita pointed out.

“Don’t worry, I think that we’ve pinned down something of use, and Dou is coaching the guards.  He was the one who followed Sensu around the most after all,” said Amon.  Aita smiled behind her mask and put the soup to the side, only half eaten.  Amon glanced over at it, but didn’t comment. 

“Sometimes I get the feeling I’m the general only in name,” said Aita.

“I always intended Dou or Lee to lead.  You’re good at what you do, but are better suited to shadows,” said Amon.  Aita cocked her head to the side.

“You wanted to change my image.  I wouldn’t just be the operative who spent an odd amount of time with you, the one who hid in the shadows.  I’d be out there showing that I was as dedicated as alone else to our cause, willing to stand in the frontlines,” said Aita. “You also wanted the city to know about me.”

“I want everyone to know about you.  It’s amazing how many people can underestimate those who operate undercover.  You are my thief, assassin, and spy, but I do believe you can lead them, especially in more covert missions.  We’re an underground organizations, having someone who has a knack for hiding in the shadows leading from time to time is almost necessary,” said Amon.  Aita frowned behind her mask before sneezing into her handkerchief.

“A spy?” asked Aita. 

“You live among them.  You give us information that not even Bethai would know or think to look up,” said Amon.

“Oh, I thought you meant to have me spy on the avatar,” said Aita with a chuckle.  Aita paused.  Was it even possible?  It would definitely help.  There was no way they’d convince Asami to spy on the avatar, and because of how the temple was set up it was almost impossible to get a nonbender onto the island for any length of time, and the avatar or those close to her might be suspicious of any nonbender who tries to befriend, or one of her friends, now. But Aita wasn’t.  Aang was pushing her to teach his new reincarnation to reach him in the Spirit World.  And if she pushed her brother, but that wouldn’t be fair.  Still, Aita had a way to be close to the avatar, to hear about their lives and their plans.  Bolin wasn’t exactly known for keeping his mouth shut, and even Mako got chatty when he was fired up about something.

“Would you be able to?” asked Amon, sounding as hesitant as Aita had ever heard him.

“I don’t know,” Aita hedged and then quickly tried to figure out how to throw suspicion from her.  She trusted Amon, he was her leader, but she kept this secret for so long, she didn’t want to reveal it to anyone.  Not even Amon. “You know who the White Lotus are don’t you?”

“You?” Amon asked and Aita shrugged. 

“I had to learn bending forms somewhere and I have a distinctive way of fighting.  I told you that I thought I might be caught soon,” said Aita.  She was unimaginably happy that the mask hid her face because she was lying.  Not outright, but by omission and misdirection.  Aita always thought that line between lying and truth was thin.  Just because you didn’t say anything didn’t mean you were lying, just like if you got something wrong you weren’t lying, just misinformed.  But she was saying something in a way that would lead the other person to believe the lie, even an unstated one.  That was a lie.  “But I’m not one of them.”

“Technically,” Amon immediately noted.  Aita didn’t correct him, just looked down on her hands.  Amon clasped them with his.   They were big and warm, probably because he was wearing gloves.  Aita should wear gloves more often, especially since she had a fondness for ropes and they tended to cut into her skin even though she’d built thick calluses on her hands. 

“If you can manage it, I would be eternally grateful.  An ear near the avatar would be more than I ever hoped for, better if you could get close to Tenzin and Chief Bei Fong,” said Amon.  Aita clenched her fists and then nodded.

“They’ve been harping at me to get involved anyway,” said Aita. “But this’ll probably only speed up their realization.  If the avatar recognizes my style or we come in contact with one of the people I trained with as Spirit, they’ll recognize my style.  Plus, they only half believe my excuses to why I stay away all the time anyway.  I suppose if you didn’t mind losing me except for this than I could move back in.”

“Move back in?” asked Amon.

“They were suspicious, and sometimes I don’t come back at all until work starts.  Some places party hard, but hardly any places that hard, and while I came back tired they noticed I wasn’t hung over.  So I just changed the angle on the rebellious teenager thing and said I got somewhere else to stay,” said Aita with a shrug.

“And did you?” and that was the problem with lies.  Sometimes you didn’t think of them fast enough to give the right reply because you didn’t except to tell the lie.  Aita hadn’t meant to say what excuse she’d given, or to say she stuck with the old one.  But the new one just tumbled out of her mouth, and while she had an angle to give Bei Fong or anyone else that started getting suspicious that Aita couldn’t tell to screw off and that it wasn’t any of their business, she hadn’t thought of one for this angle. She could have given a similar excuse.  Nodded along, if he asked for specifics just given the same one she had already worked out, but she didn’t want to and her mouth refused to open and then she sneezed and coughed and Amon was patting her back and she felt sicker than ever before.

“You need to get rest,” said Amon with a sigh. “We’ll talk about this if we have time tomorrow, but I’ll debrief you now on what I need you to do tomorrow if you’re up to it.”

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

After Amon left to watch over the preparations for the next night and write the new speech for the change in the demonstration, Aita had drifted up to sleep.  Amon had woken her at seven, and Aita had, embarrassingly enough, shrugged him off and curled herself under the covers.  Thankfully, Amon hadn’t crawled into bed with her.  He just got someone to get her coffee, which had effectively woken her up and then she went on her way while he took the tunnels to his next home for the day where he’d catch up on as much sleep as he could before someone brought the next problem to his attention. 

Aita arrived at the store at eight; her brother was already behind the counter and gave her a concerned look as she entered.  Aita felt better now, though.  Her nose was still a little stuffy, but she hadn’t sneezed or coughed and she no longer felt rundown and aching.  So she was getting better, and working the store shouldn’t be hard that day.  Nothing was coming in and she needed to draw up new designs for her workers to create.  Mentally like jumping through hoops, but she was mostly worried about exerting to much physically, she wanted to be ready for the mission later that night.

“So, you think I should do something cutesy this time?” asked Aita as she walked out of the backroom.  Her hair flew dramatically behind her and Aita looked up at her brother with wide eyes, her sketchpad falling to the ground.  Sota was frozen before he lowered his arms and tried to smile uncertainly. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” said Sota nervously.  Aita looked out the big window; there weren’t too many people on the streets.  A couple of mobiles, but it was sprinkling and a school day.

“What are you thinking?  Do you want to get caught?” snapped Aita walking over to him and clipping him on the shoulder in irritation. 

“No, it’s just so hard Aita.  It’s like an itch that’s so easy to scratch and sometimes I just can’t help it, and I mean, the poster isn’t hanging badly on the wall anymore,” said Sota.  Aita just glared at her brother and then brought her sketchpad up and about to bring it down as hard as she could on his head.  The bell rang signaling customers.

“Bolin, save me, my sister is trying to kill me,” said Sota.

“Aita stop being abusive,” said Bolin cheerily.  Aita immediately brought the sketchpad to her side and glared at the teen before turning sharply.  She caught a glance of Korra and she stopped.

“Korra I need to talk to you,” said Aita.

“Not now,” said Korra, a couple of scrapes were still visible along her face and she looked pissed off so Aita drew away, just a little annoyed. “We can’t stay long.”

“Right,” said Mako. “Have you guys seen anything odd around here lately?”

“It’s raining, we’ve hardly seen anything,” said Aita dryly.  Mako gave her a look.

“No, Aita’s right.  We haven’t seen anyone today, just some kids who got some candy before school, but they were the normal sort a little put out by the rain,” said Sota.  “Seemed normal enough to me.  Has something happened?”

“Not yet, but we’ve heard reports about equalists in the area,” said Korra.

“Maybe we should shut down for the day,” said Aita, glancing at Sota.

“Why?  What reason would they want me?” said Sota. “I’m useless as a bender.  Worthless to take it away. I do more harm to myself than anything else.”

“Be on your guard,” said Korra. “We’ll be in the area.”

And they were gone as soon as they came.

“Well, that was useless,” said Aita. “I wonder why equalists are skulking around here.”

“Who cares?” asked Sota, going back to sulk at the cash register.  Aita headed for the backroom after giving her brother a quick glance.  Aita headed to the backroom.  Why would Amon be sending people here?  Was he attacking the local cops here?  That would be nice.  Aita would disappointed though if it turned out she missed the rally where her stepfather lost his bending.  She might have to scold Amon if that happened.  Aita smiled to herself and then something fell on the ground in the main area of the store. 

“Sota you alright?  Sota, I told you to stop…” Aita ducked reflexively as someone tried to strike her as she came through the door.  She fell to the ground and then rolled away instead of countering, not because her brother was watching, but because these were equalists.  Aita stared for a second, hardly dodging the next attack.  She thought she recognized some of them, maybe, but she’s more concerned about what they’re doing in her shop and where her brother is. 

“Aita,” shouted Sota, somewhere to her left, his voice cutting off as it sounded like someone gagged him.  Aita would have reprimanded the equalist that let Sota get even that out.  They should have a better hold on him by now.  They’re attacking her again, and Aita can’t dodge without doing anything fancy.  The world went dark while Aita prayed that she did the right thing. 

She woke up in one of the equalists cells.  At first she was a bit confused.  Sota’s voice breaks through and she looked up at her brother who instantly started crying, though from the tracks down his face, it was clear that he’d been crying before this too.  His limbs were bound tight to his body, but the equalists had taken away the gag.  Aita wished she taught him how to blast wind with it, maybe he’d be to annoy his captors.  But these were her men, people she’d fought with all her life and her brother would be gagged by now.

“It’s alright,” he said, getting closer to her.  “One of them found out your rooted so you aren’t bound like me.  I know you hate that.  I’m sorry I couldn’t be a good brother and protect you, but maybe you don’t have to meet Amon.”

Sota was babbling and it took a second for Aita to figure out that he was telling her to play a part.  He wanted Aita to act like a normal rooted person.  Aita was only going on the being tied part, being bound tended to set rooted people off into fits.  Sota was talking to her in an almost baby voice.  Aita tried to make her eyes dull the way she’d seen the other rooted in her support classes do.  To look as if she was seeing something faraway that existed only in her mind.  She pushed herself up to a sitting position and pulled her brother over her lap and started stroking her hair.

Rooted people functioned on the essentials.  They can be led by the hand, feed themselves when food is put in front of them, and mutter answers when questions are forceful enough, they can even react to strong emotions. They laugh when everyone else is, cry, tremble, or scream depending on the emotion that is effecting them.  Aita isn’t sure if she’s being too subtle and she starts to sing in a jilted, closed off voice.

“Leaves from the grass,” she begins, but Sota rolls into her and Aita immediately berates herself.  She does not have recognizable by voice, not the same way Amon and Korra are, but that doesn’t mean that people can’t figure out who she is from her voice.  What will they think of her?  Aita isn’t entirely sure about Amon felt about rooted people.  From the way he talked they were better than benders but not normal people.  He pitied them, the way everyone does.  Aita can’t be fixed.  She can’t divide her ability from her, if she could have she would have done so already. 

“Little soldier boy, come marching home,” Sota is singing with tears still streaming down his face.  Aita leans over him and realizes she’s humming with him and her cheeks are wet from her own crying.  Aita was so scared.  Not only for herself, but she found she was also concerned for her brother.  What would losing his bending like this do to him?  Isn’t there any kind ways for his to lose his bending?  Aita can’t even say it would have been better if she did it before this.  If she had done this when he couldn’t have known it was her, he would have been lost and confused.  If Aita had done it so he saw her, it would have broken her brother.  He would have seen it as a traitors act, he wouldn’t have been salvageable.  He would have been lost to this world. 

But this, this just seemed so cruel.  Sota wasn’t just some evil bender who had done horrible deeds that made it right to take his bending in such a humiliating way.  Still, Amon could have changed the assassination when he learned of Sota.  In that case, Aita wouldn’t have kept her identity a secret.  She would have begged to save her twin.  She might have even given Amon this as an alternative so she could save her brother.  Sota is so scared; he’s shaking uncontrollably in her arms.  But this is what she wants right?  She had thought her brother was as safe from his own bending.  Safe from becoming a true enemy, just someone on the sideline, by the end of the rebellion Aita had wished he would come to them and ask for his bending to be taken.  Would this harden his heart to their revolution? 

Aita sees her tears fall on her brother’s face and she leans toward him.  There’s so much she could do for him, but at the same time, nothing at all.  How can she tell Amon to leave Sota alone?  If he knows Sota is Spirit’s twin brother.  He can’t let Sota go even if Spirit begs him to.  He has no one else, its way past midday.  He can’t cancel this rally.  He can’t completely rewrite his speech.  Amon won’t understand, or maybe he would and somehow that would be worst.  She can’t unlock the cage, and if she could, she can’t fight off every chi blocker. 

It seems too soon when Lee shows his face.  Aita can’t help glaring at him hatefully and holding her brother closer to her body.

“Bind her,” said Lee. 

“She’s rooted,” said one of the chi blockers, pausing instead of following Lee’s orders. 

“She’s aware,” said Lee. 

“She acts rooted,” mutters the chi blocker and someone else came to bind Aita’s hands.  Aita tensed and then rid herself of the façade and attacks one with the clumsy movements of a nonbender who was taught to fire bend.  The men easily stop her and bind her.  Aita watches as the chi blockers hit Sota on the legs, not to make him collapse, but only to block his bending.  The twins were taken away then and Aita tries to imagine she doesn’t know this underground walkway.  When they reached the room under the stage, a different one from the one they’d taken Bolin, Aita wished that she could be by Amon’s side, waiting to try and explain to her brother and help him through what is happening.

Aita heard the crowd.  They were murmuring loudly.  Aita can’t hear anything distinct, and then Amon’s voice floated to Aita’s ears.  And then both Aita and Sota were brought forward and thrown at Amon’s feet.

“Unfortunately we have hit a snag,” Amon lifts Aita.  Aita kicks out at him, but he easily stops her and Aita just glares. “The people we could have saved from the harm bending does directly to our minds.  Those rooted have been so connected to their burden that nothing can save them.”

Aita stared into Amon’s eyes.  Aita wondered if he recognized her.  He had felt her face when he reached those few times under her mask.  They knew each other as well as any masked identities could.  Aita wondered if there really were burns all over his face.  Did he recognize her?  She hadn’t spoken, she was in water tribe looking clothes that are tight enough so she doesn’t look as bulky as she does as Spirit, but loose enough that it doesn’t entirely give her muscle and figure away since Amon has also seen her mostly naked thanks to her stepfather.  Aita hoped he didn’t.  Amon showed no signs of knowing her.  No change in his eyes or demeanor as he throws Aita to the side and stalks toward Aita’s brother.

“This boy is one of the last airbenders and he hides it,” said Amon.  Aita hears no more.  The man she looks up to is roughly throwing about and abusing her brother with a sharp tongue.  Aita was crying again and pushing against Lee’s foot as he kept her pushed to the floor.  Aita’s mind immediately supplies how to throw off Lee’s leg, but Aita kept still and crying. 

“Not like this,” Aita can’t help pleading, not loudly.  Lee looked down on her in confusion, but Aita knew that he was the only one who probably heard her. “Please, not like this.”

Aita wasn’t sure what to think when a steam of fog enveloped the stage and the floor under her gave way and Aita fell into Bolin’s arms.  There was shouting, but Bolin didn’t try to untie Aita.  He just carried her away.  Aita felt like her world was crashing, or as if something had been lost.  It wasn’t until they were on a flying bison that Aita wakes up enough to the lost feeling that Aita looked for her brother.

“Sota,” she said, pushing against where Bolin had been holding her and looking frantically around.  There the ex chief, Mako, and then Sota.  Aita scrambles to him.  Sota is shaking and looking down at his hands.  Aita threw her unbound arms around her brother and buried her head into his body.

“I can’t hide it anymore Aita.  I’m sorry,” said Sota.  Aita’s heart beats faster and Aita hated and loved that she was relieved Amon hadn’t taken his bending.

“Thank the Spirits,” Aita whispers and she starts to cry again, trying to hide herself in him.  Aita might be one of those who got weepy at this time, but even this much crying was uncommon.  If Sota said anything about it, Aita was going to punch him until he could never bend again.  

“You two can live here now,” said Tenzin as they landed on Air Temple Island. “I insist.”

Aita felt her entire body stiffen.

“I have somewhere else to stay,” Aita snapped. Tenzin stopped to turn on her and Aita glared.  Everyone slipped off the flying bison.  Sota came to stand behind Aita nad put his hand on her shoulder. Aita shook her head.  She felt bad, but staying as far away from Tenzin wasn’t the only reason Aita couldn’t stay.  She still had a mission from Amon, and then she had to confront the man.  Maybe.  She would deal with it when it came. 

“Is it true, what Amon said?” asked Bolin. Aita glanced at Bolin and almost blushed.  She really had started to drown Amon out.  She hadn’t wanted to listen to him.  The words had hurt and made her hateful of Amon.  She understaood, of course she understood, but she hated him.  How could she confront him?  How could she stay away?  What was better?  She had been better when she left Amon that morning, but she could claim she was got sicker over the day.  But Aita didn’t think that putting off would help.  This ‘confrontation’ had to happen. Aita wasn’t sure what to do.  Would he have known it was there?  Would he be furious, curious, uncertain? 

“What did he say?” Aita found herself asking. 

“He said that you and Sota are Tenzin’s kids,” said Korra furiously.  Aita froze and felt her brother cling to her back.  Aita refused to look at the avatar. 

“Does your friend have enough room for me?” whispered Sota and Aita turned on her brother.

“No, you can’t come back with me,” Aita almost yelled as she spun around to grip her brother’s shoulder hard. “They don’t care about me.  I don’t even know why Amon brought me up on the stage. You have to stay here.”

“Then stay with me,” said Sota.  Aita stared him in the eyes and then started to pull away.  She couldn’t stay here.  She couldn’t hear whatever stupid excuse Tenzin gave when he finally snapped out of the daze that Korra’s accusation had put him in.  Aita would actually face Amon then face that.  “Coward.”

“I can’t stay the night again,” snapped Aita and quickly stormed back to clamor on the back of the sky bison.  No one tries to stop her.  She looks back at everyone, their expressions varying from person to person.  Tenzin is looking her full in the face, but he isn’t trying to give his excuses yet or stop Aita.  Maybe he thought that she would be the harder one to deal with.  Aita was the one who had wanted to throttle the man.  She wanted to finally go back to the place she’d been terrified of since she was six, not to thank the man who brought her to the real world, but to kill him.  Sota had wanted nothing.  He forgot that anyone else with airbending existed.  He never asked to go to Airbender Island for years, and when he starts again Aita thought it was because he really had forgotten, maybe had even forgotten that he was actually an airbender. 

Aita felt the beast rise and she didn’t remember telling him ‘yip, yip’.  Aita lets it put her down on the docks.  A couple of people look at her oddly, but they just kept walking.  Aita found one of her uniforms and masks close to the docks and then keeps to the shadows.  The rally was early, well, early for a rally.  It had started at seven, and now it’s eight.  Aita had to get to the top floor of the government building.  Not the fancy one for the council men and women, but one that reminded Aita of Bethai’s work place.  The person’s office she broke into was in good shape and locked out from the rest of the building. 

Aita messed everything up.  Not destructively, just to make it look like someone had been looking for something.  Aita reaches into her shirt and she paused.  She had this kept in her bra since she had slipped back into her civilian clothes.  If the chi blockers had properly searched her, they would have found that letter and her knife.  They should have found her knife.  Aita didn’t hide it well.  It wasn’t on her hip, but that any decent cop would have found that knife.  Some heads would roll form that one.

Because, Aita’s sure of her convictions now.  She still wasn’t sure what to do with Amon, but her beliefs held firm.  Moments like today hurt.  It wasn’t fair what had happened, it wasn’t even right, but Aita believed in The Revolution’s message.  She believed that benders were the worst thing to happen to this world.  Sota was going to go to ruin.  He’s going to change like Bolin and Mako.  His use of airbending and the fat it was so close to being gone might make him hate The Revolution.  Even when they won Amon might have him killed on principal.  If Sota couldn’t be changed. 

Aita rolled the letter in her hands.  She took the knife and started to slice the letter open.  She is sick of all the lies.  They hurt so much. 

A night guard opened the door.  He looked bored.  Startled in a way that meant a moment ago he thought he was going to have another boring night.  Aita runs and breaks the window when she leaves when she miscalculates the throw for her grapple. 

The townhouse is dark and gloomy.  The general disarray of the townhouse made Aita think it reflected how the warehouse had to look.  Aita wondered if maybe Amon wasn’t anywhere near the area.  He might have changed the place he was going to stay so he could better watch over the cleanup. But Aita won’t go looking for him.  Maybe Spirit might have, but Aita believed that for a moment she could feel her sickness sinking back into her bones after hours spent in a cold cell in petrifying fear.

When Aita entered the bedroom, tired and ready to sleep, she saw a familiar if slightly more exaggerated than normal mess spread across a small desk, a borough, and a bedside table.  Amon sat on the bed, head in his hands and muttering to himself.  The loss of Sota had hit him hard.  He had put so much behind this rally to lead them closer to the end of this war.  Sota had probably seemed like a Spirit gift to Amon. A symbol even more powerful than Mrs. Ping in many ways.  Now he had a disaster.  He had been undermined in a way that even Bethai wouldn’t be able to spin this completely away.  They had lost.  The equalists had taken a hit and looked like a fool in front of their civilian supporters.  Aita was glad her brother was safe, but that didn’t stop her from realizing how much that had cost their Revolution. 

“Amon?” Aita uttered, closing the door behind with a click that seemed to echo in the small room.  Amon looked up at her.  His masked face gave nothing away, though I Aita could see his eyes, she couldn’t tell if he’d been crying.  His posture told her a lot though. Aita doubted the man had cried.  But he had gotten angry.  Amon was all about control.  He loved it, craved it, drew his assuredness and his will from its mastery.  He kept it at all times, but now… Losing Sota like that was a loss.  It made him look like he wasn’t as altogether as it seemed.  Amon couldn’t blame losing Sota on any of his subordinates because Aita’s twin had been stolen from right under his nose. 

“Spirit, have you heard?” he asked.  Aita swallowed.  This was bad.  It had only been an hour and a half since the rally, and only the avatar’s closest friends.  Amon should have asked her about the mission, and then he should have informed her of what happened.  But maybe he remembered she was trying to worm herself into the good graces of the avatar and her group.  Maybe he thought she had been part of the raiding party. 

“I take it things didn’t go as planned?” asked Aita carefully, coming to squat in front of him.

“No,” said Amon with a sigh.  Aita waited, shifting her weight as she waited for Amon to say something.  Give her information.  She wanted him to make this feeling of triumph that surge through her gut and through her body feel hollow and petty.  Her brother was one person.  One bender who had been forced to keep his bending secret for the most part and escape most of the corruption it caused.  But not all of this.  No, not even Aita’s brother had escaped the arrogance and superiority complex that the benders held within themselves.  And Aita was happy he could become worse under Tenzin’s careful eye because it would make her brother happy to finally stretch and guide his bending. 

“My mission was easy,” Aita said. “If you wanted them to take notice of the letter than you’re in luck.”

“You didn’t make it too obvious?” asked Amon.

“No, I might have been trying to open it when a guard opened the door,” said Aita without feeling guilty in the slightest.  Amon groans and then laughs.

“That will do fine.  Why were you trying to read the letter?  Was that part of your plan?” asked Amon, almost sarcastically. 

“No, I wanted to know what was going on,” snapped Aita and Amon leaned back.  Aita fell to the ground, folding her legs together.

“You’re angry with me,” said Amon.  He put his head in his hands and Aita thought he might have gotten the wrong impression. 

“I’m just miffed,” said Aita. “You keep hiding what you’re planning and I’m not used to that.  Plus, you have me trying to get back with the group of people I have been distancing myself from, actually, you’re pushing me to become even more involved with them then I should be able to, especially considering the views I’ve let slip and the suspicion on me.  It’s not you.  It’s just the situation.”

“Are you alright?” asked Amon, despite the broad question, Aita still felt her hand go to her healed shoulder. 

“I have a powerful ally,” said Aita, but she didn’t try to expound on that statement.  She was trying to be careful.  She was being as truthful as she could while trying to let Amon come up with his own picture of what was going on.  Useful, but she had to be abstract enough that anything she did ‘reveal’ didn’t conflict with whatever picture he had in his head.

“It’s funny,” said Amon. “Even when you talk I learn nothing about you.”

“You know everything that matters,” Aita said.  Her mind immediately flashed to her brother. She was about to ask if he wanted to still have that rally or take away the airbenders powers, when Amon ran his hand down her mask, his fingers skimming where the mask met skin and hair. 

“Do you trust me?” asked Amon.  Aita opened her mouth and closed it.  What? “Do you trust me?”

Was this a test?  Was this when Amon looked under Aita’s mask to see her face?  His fingers were poised at the chin of her mask, ready to peal it away.  He would see her.  He’d know how she could get close to the avatar.  Amon might not recognize her body structure, her voice, or her determination, but he’d recognize her as one of the people who had foiled his plan.  Would he think of it that way?  Aita could have sliced through those bonds.  She could have tried to run.  She hadn’t saved them, the avatar had.  But Amon would see her and know she was close to the avatar, that she wasn’t a true nonbender.  He would remember the hate in her eyes as he had thrown her to the side to go after her brother.

“Yes,” she said finally.  Amon didn’t question her pause, but the tension in his body seemed to fly out of him. 

“Close your eyes,” he said under his breath, and taking a deep breath in, Aita did.  Amon withdrew his hands, and after a moment, Aita heard the blinds to the only window in the room being closed.  The window had been ornate, not something you looked out of.  Then the lights clicked off.  Aita found herself frowning in confusion.  What was Amon planning?  Why was he doing this?

Amon finally lifted the mask from Aita’s face, but Aita was sure that it wasn’t visible.  The window hadn’t let in much light because of the ornamentation, and the drapes had looked heavy.  No light.  Amon’s fingers started to trace her face, her lids, her nose, her lips.  It was odd.  He then leaned in, and Aita wished she’d gone for a mint.  His breath wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t great either.  A sort of musty orange smell.  And then he kissed her.  Just lightly, just so their lips brushed.  Aita gasped and Amon pushed in a bit more.

Maybe all those accusations floating around had been there for a reason.  Maybe, somehow, Amon had grown to love Spirit.  Was that possible?  Amon started to pull away and Aita felt fear pulse through her heart.  She wanted to prove to Amon that she was trustworthy.  That he could tell her anything and she wouldn’t spill.  She wasn’t working for the avatar.  She wasn’t a bender.  She was his Spirit and she would give anything for him to trust her and let her fight on his side. 

Aita shivered a little as her finger ghosted over Amon’s now exposed skin as she crushed their lips together.  It was odd, and she had to back up a little and start mimicking Amon because she had no clue as to what to do, and her stepsister was wrong about nature knowing how to kiss.  It wanted the kiss, well, it wanted something, but how to get it and make it pleasurable.  It had no idea.  Plus, half Aita’s attention was torn to Amon’s face.  On what Aita could feel from her lips even after their tongues mixed and teeth clashed awkwardly. 

Amon was scarred, heavily.  There had been a betting pool going on if the scars were real.  Aita hadn’t been sure.  She thought that some of what Amon claimed was his past was true, most of it.  The first time he told it to Bethai in front of Aita he had said it in such a dead and off-putting way that Aita couldn’t help but believe it.  But the scars, a scar that covered your face sounded like too good an excuse for a rebel leader to need a mask.  Too convenient.  Yet, most of his face was hard and rough, Aita recognized the rough patch and uneven skin as burn marks, here and there he even had a fold of skin.  He did have a nose though, sort of, Aita wasn’t sure he could breathe through it, but it was there.  The scar didn’t cover his entire face.  It missed his eyes and went up to the left side of his face a little, taking some of his hair with it.

Amon’s tongue ran along, in what must have been just the right way, the gums on the inside of her right cheek near the back.  That was a weird place to be sensitive.  Aita’s eyebrow furrowed as she shivered again.

The door burst open and Aita immediately ducked and thrust her face into Amon’s clothes.  There was a beat of silence and Aita’s hand had strayed to her knife while the other blinded searched for her mask. 

“I found Amon, Bethai,” said Lee. Aita groaned and tried to actually melt into Amon.  Lee had that insufferable edge to his voice.  There was no way he was ever going to believe that they weren’t a couple.  Well, maybe Aita and Amon were now.  Why had Amon kissed her?  Had he actually wanted her?  Was it just comfort?  Would it have progressed to something more if Lee hadn’t stopped them?  Aita’s clothes were a bit askew, and she quickly started to button up the loose dark clothing so no one could see the watertribe themed clothing.  The same the airbenders twin sister. 

“Spirit was cheering Amon up then,” said Bethai dryly.  Amon chuckled.  It was muffled, but Aita remembered brushing his mask at the top of his head when she was kissing him. “Can we turn on the light?”

“Yes,” said Amon.  Aita felt the cool hardness of her mask on the top of her head and then Amon’s hands slip to the back of her skull to secure the mask to her head.  Aita drew back slightly to pull down the mask, and then she quickly stood and walked over to the desk where she perched on the edge of it as Bethai took the chair with a huff. “Also, Spirit will be spending her free times during the night with me from now on.”

Aita glared over at her leader, her face turning what had to be an impossible shade of red.  She was very glad that she was wearing a mask and no one could see her face.

“Finally breaking the pretense?” asked Bethai. “Why not keep her around all the time.”

“She’s staying the night because she no longer has a place to stay.  She’s leaving because I have an extended mission that needs to take place during the day,” said Amon.

“I thought she was taking a more active role in the frontlines,” said Lee, Bethai hummed in agreement.

“Officially, but you have to admit that she’s the best unofficial spy,” said Amon.  Bethai sighed. “And it probably won’t last that long.”

“So that’s why you’ve been keeping her from some of our meetings?” asked Lee.  Aita clenched her fists, but she didn’t think anything else gave away her annoyance.

“You put the girl in a place where she can get captured and tortured, but you love her.  You’re a different sort of man Amon,” said Bethai.  Aita found herself giggling at that. 

“I wouldn’t insult Spirit by coddling her,” said Amon.  Aita felt her entire body sag.  That made sense.  Amon might have been keeping her from learning sensitive information because he knew she could be squeezed for information.  Aita shivered.  She hadn’t been to too many interrogations, but after seeing Gir’s handiwork, Aita knew she’d rather kill herself than end up in any torture room.

“Well, you’ll both start being more open about your relationship now?  It’ll help strengthen moral,” said Bethai. 

“We only just started,” muttered Aita.  Lee chuckled.

“Yes, keep that part up,” said Bethai. “No one will believe you, but it’ll be expected.”

Amon laughed and Aita pouted behind her mask.  Aita listened as they recapped that night at the rally in their own words.  Aita got the name of the chi blocker who had given Lee such trouble, and by the time Mr. Sato came in they were discussing ways to learn from their mistakes and make changes to the way they ran things.  To learn from their mistakes.

“One battle lost, but the war is not over,” said Mr. Sato  grimly.

“Maybe they’ll even start to underestimate us,” said Aita.  Amon looked at her, and Aita believed for a second that they were both smiling at each other. 


	10. Parentage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, apparently Tenzin’s 51 years old. Um, no, say what you want. Katara and Aang had Kya but something went wrong and they had to wait a while before having Bumi and then Tenzin. Yes, let’s go with that. So Tenzin didn’t have his first kid at forty-one because that doesn’t make sense and it didn’t work well with what I had setup up. So he’s more like thirty-five, having lost his father when he was eighteen and then been very responsible and gotten on the council at a young age (partly through his connection to Aang), and we’ll cross how Bumi became Commander when he shows up. Also, since Legend of Korra is over with (at least for now) I do not have fresh inspiration for this fic. Yes, I know where this fic is going and I broke off even before the end came about, but I’ll miss my inspiration. Any ideas where I can keep the idea fresh and interesting so I have reason to keep writing?

Aita was back on the flying bison almost as soon as she landed on Air Temple Island.  Not even for Amon would she get in the middle of the lover spat between Mako and Asami.  The avatar somehow factored into the mix, something about Mako fawning over Korra since she escaped from the cabin in the mountains.  Aita didn’t really want to hear about it, but she’d come back later with chocolate, lots of chocolate, and then she’d hang around the avatar, tell the bender about Aang and needing to reach the Spirit World, and avoid Tenzin to the best of her ability. 

“Aita, wait, where are you going?” Aita looked down to see Bolin running at her at full speed with Sota in air acolyte clothes.  The command to rise the flying bison up again dies on her lips as she scowls at her brother, running behind the Bolin, who is already decked out in air novice uniform. 

“Somewhere else.  I’ll come back when the drama has died down,” said Aita.  Maybe later that afternoon, or wait until Amon had won the war.  Really, with their biggest threat more caught up in a love mess it was a wonder that Amon hadn’t won already.  

“Take us with you,” said Sota, immediately climbing onto the flying bison’s back and quickly followed by Bolin. “You think you could stop by the store?”

“Sure,” said Aita with a sigh. “Yip, yip.  But if you want to go talk to mom you’re on your own.”

“Yeah, I’d figured out that part,” said Sota dryly.

Aita landed the flying bison first in front of their shop.  Bolin and Sota filled her in on the gossip on the way over.  Aita retained about as much as she’d picked up the first time.  Sota started talking about Tenzin a couple of time, but Aita interrupted him and steered the conversation back to something that didn’t make her want to fly the bison into one of the buildings. 

“Looks like we didn’t need to go home,” said Sota, slipping off the flying bison.  Aita just stared at where her mother was standing, and the woman’s wide blue eyes stared back up at both her and her brother with fear and relief.  A moment later their stepfather crashed through the front door of the shop.  Aita finally looked through the window.  It didn’t look like anything had been touched, though the window had been broken.  Aita didn’t remember that happening. 

Sota gave their mother a hug and Aita watched them impassively.  Their stepfather stood to the side and patted Sota awkwardly on the back.  Sota smiled at him cheekily before their mother pulled him down to fuss at him and check for any bruises or cuts.  Their stepfather turned on Aita, and the equalist felt her body stiffen.  He didn’t look angry though, just gruff and maybe a little relieved.

“We were surprised when they said they took you too.  Ameli was worried sick,” said their stepfather.  Aita glanced to where her mother was still fussing over her brother.  But she did notice the woman’s gaze kept flicking toward her.  Aita kept on the flying bison, debating on whether to fly away or not.

Still, it was nice to hear that one of them cared about her. 

“They wanted to say that Amon couldn’t ‘help’ anyone who was rooted,” said Sota, coming to stand next to the flying bison, bringing their mother with him as he walked. “It was too late, I guess, to revise his speech when they found out Aita was unique.”

“How’d they know she was rooted?” asked their mother.  Aita shrugged and interjected before her brother danced around the issue.

“Whoever saw Sota airbend must have done some digging later and found out his sister was rooted,” said Aita with a shrug. “Obviously they must have stopped their investigation after that.”

“Yeah, anyone who’s been to our store knows that Aita is the one who really runs the store, at least that she does readings.  Someone trapped in their own head can’t do that,” said Sota.  Their stepfather frowned and their mother gasped.

“No, Sota is a firebender,” said their mother.  Her eyes wild and confused.

“It’s alright Ameli,” said their stepfather, drawing her into a hug, but their mother just kept shaking his head. 

“I never slept with...  He wasn’t…” she seemed lost and Aita just looked down at her mother in confusion. “I would have known if I slept with Tenzin.  He used to cling to his father when they were here.  At least, that’s what the boy I was dating said.  But I’ve seen Tenzin, I never…”

“I know mom,” said Sota, and Aita glanced between them.  Maybe she should have paid more attention when Sota was trying to give Tenzin’s excuses. “The man you dated told you he was a nonbender.  I remember you being surprised when I reveled I was a firebender until Aita said that sometimes, in rare cases, bending skips a generation.  Well, it did, but he wasn’t the son of a firebender.”

“But, how?” asked their stepfather.

“Tenzin has a brother, Bumi.  He’s a commander in the navy, but he was wild in his youth, and even now…” Sota trailed off and shook his head. “You said he was rich but without any real possessions.  That describes airbending mentality pretty well. The monks were always said to be rich, but not overly showy or attached to what they had.”

“He used to say he hated it,” she said with a shake of her head, and then she giggled. She looked over at Sota and started to play with his hair. “I suppose this’ll be gone soon.”

Aita snorted as Sota made a face.  Her brother loved his hair.  It wasn’t that he had a lot, but he put more gell and product in it than Aita had none nay girl to. 

“You’ll be staying with your uncle then,” said their mother. 

“Well, I will. Aita can’t stay on Air Temple Island overnight or she slips back into the Spirit World,” said Sota. All their attention turned on Aita, and she felt her entire body stiffen in surprise. 

“You’ll be staying with the boy than?” asked their stepfather gruffly.  Aita felt her entire face heat up.  Alright, so that was the excuse she was going to give them, but still. 

“What boy?” asked Sota.

“You’re really thick,” Aita said.  Really, everyone else picked up her hints that she staying with someone and that’s why she didn’t come home, though she didn’t really ever hint at that.  But she had known that after she gave that excuse, she wasn’t going to be able to live on her own, or on the pocket change her father gave her, so she quickly worked out that she was able to live with someone because the nature of their relationship would have allowed her to get away without paying rent.  She hadn’t even been trying to be subtle when the subject was broached.  But, leave it to her stepfather to immediately jump to conclusions and have him, annoyingly enough, be the ones she wanted him to jump to, and her brother to not get it until it was spelled out to him. 

“Aita,” her mother scolded, and it was obvious she also wanted an answer.  Aita pursed her lips.

“Yes,” she said.

“And he treats you right?” asked her stepfather.  Aita glared at him.  What did he care if Amon treated her right?  He’d never really shown an interest in her life before this.

“Fine,” said Aita carefully.

“How close are you two?” asked Aita’s mother and suddenly Aita has the impression that her mother was already seeing wedding bells in her head.  She was already making the fact that her daughter had decided to shack up with a boy a bigger deal than it really was.  Really, a guy taking in a girl, or the other way around, during a relationship, especially if they were poor, wasn’t that unheard of.  It also was common that it was a relationship of convenience or quick to burn out passion.  Sometimes things just ended, sometimes they ended explosively, and sometimes one of them (usually the girl) was left with an extra mouth to feed by the end of it.  But, that was the sort of things that mothers feared their daughters would get into.  Better to hope that they were settling in with the right boy who would do ‘right by her.’

“Aita,” screamed a voice.  And Aita was surprised to see Miss Ping come flying toward her.  Aita pushed herself off the flying bison.  Ms. Ping still didn’t look pregnant, but she still shouldn’t be throwing herself around like that.  Well, at least Aita didn’t believe she should. “I was so worried.”

“It’s not really me they were after,” said Aita, leaning her head toward Sota.  Miss Ping smiled at Sota, but she hardly ever met him so she instantly started fussing at Aita.  Aita giggled.  She hadn’t realized she meant much to this woman.  Yes, she went out of her way a couple of times during the month to talk to Miss Ping, well, have the woman talk at her, sometimes they did earthbending forms because Aita said she had an interest in that sort of thing.  Still, Miss Ping was a bit of a gossip. 

Aita pulled away from Miss Ping and smiled.  Her smile quickly froze in place and her heart started to beat at an impossible pace.  Lee was with Miss Ping.  He didn’t seem too concerned though.  Aita glanced over at Sota but he hardly seemed to notice Lee, more intent on his sister and their hovering mother.  Aita looked back at Lee who was staring at her suspiciously.  Aita quickly looked away from him.  That mustache, the shape of his face.  Didn’t anyone else see it? Maybe it was just that she knew Lee so well. 

“Are you alright Aita?” asked Bolin.  Aita nodded nervously and Lee frowned angrily at her. 

“Yes, but we should probably go get those chocolates,” said Aita, and then glanced at her stepfather. “We won’t be able to run the store, at least not for a while.”

“Yuaa is about the same age as you two were when you started,” said their father. “And that firebender employee has taken over the shop for the day and knows what he’s doing.  I’ll have him coach Yuaa.  We’re already drawing up plans for a co-ownership.”

Both Aita and Sota looked a bit shocked at this.  Sota even looked a little hurt.

“Not because I thought you were dead, but I thought you’d need time if your bending was really taken from you and your sister would hardly agree to continue running the store with you if she was… I know you two well enough to see the signs of your days running my store are over,” said their father.  “Plus, that firebender is planning on expanding the stores, making a franchise out of it.  He says enough people go out of their way to come here that they would probably be glad to have one on the other side of town.  He thinks the whole bending, spiritual thing you had going was good grounding for something big.”

“He had said he wanted to talk to you for a while now,” Aita muttered.  She’d just thought that Jiron was looking for more hours so he could finally move out of his parent’s house. “If he was that sure than he should have realized that talking to me about talking to you about anything wasn’t a good idea.  He should have bugged Sota.”

“I do not talk to the help,” said Sota, and then laughed.  Him and Bolin started in on some comedy routine mostly consisting of pantomime that appeared to mean nothing to anyone but them. 

“Or he tried and Sota went all high and mighty on him,” muttered Aita with a look of annoyance. 

“Oh, Aita, after we get chocolates for Asami can we go to Narook’s?” asked Bolin.

“We can go before.  That should kill some time,” said Aita.

“May I join you?” asked Miss Ping, clinging to her husband.  Aita stiffened. “Oh, I’ve never been on a flying Bison.  Urla will be so jealous. What do you say Lee?”

“That sounds like fun.  Aita won’t be able to see you two that much anymore, unless she’s living with you two,” said Sota, looking at them hopefully.  Aita pulled herself onto flying bison as all she wanted to do was throttle her brother.  He was such a babbler mouth.  What would happen if Lee started to notice weird connections?  Like Aita was just starting to join up with the avatar and her friends.  They hadn’t known she was sleeping with someone until recently.  Since she was thirteen she’d started to stay up later and later at night doing gods know what.  She’d taught herself all of the bending forms.  But then again, neither Bolin nor Sota seemed to realize who Lee was.  Okay, he was married to an earthbender, but he was easily one of their more noteworthy and easily recognized frontline fighters.  He was Amon’s right-hand man.  Where Amon wore a mask, Lee just wore a cap and goggles.  He made no real effort to hide who he was.  Aita thought he’d only lasted in the city so long was because his daytime image was either convincingly a bender supporter, which despite his marriage, Aita didn’t buy.  He probably just wasn’t anyone worth noticing as Lee. 

Aita smiled into her soup as Sota poked Miss Ping and asked if he could see her when she’s pregnant because that was fascinating.  Aita wanted to strangle him, but since that was her normal reaction to her brother’s antics she just ignored him and talked to Ping when she could distract her from Sota.  Lee had bowed out, thankfully.  Aita checked the clock, it was only noon. 

“We should probably be back before noon so you can get reacquainted with everyone before you go to your meeting,” said Bolin to Aita as he finished up his third bowl of noodles.  Aita looked at him in confusion before realizing what he was talking about.

“I forgot.  I have to go to the meeting tonight,” said Aita.

“What?  No, come on Aita.  Your uncle is one of the councilmen of the city.  You can get out of it now,” said Sota.

“I like those meetings,” said Aita.

“They’re degrading,” said Sota.

“I’m not having this conversation again,” said Aita dryly before smiling at Miss Ping. “It was good to see you.  I’ll have to stop by at some point.”

“Bring that boy your father was talking about,” said Miss Ping kindly as she started to route in her purse.  Aita went for hers, she should have just enough to cover them, maybe, but Miss Ping put up a hand. “I’ll be happy to pay.”

“Thank you Miss Ping.  You’re my favorite of Aita’s friends,” said Bolin, throwing himself over the woman.  Miss Ping giggled, and Aita rolled her eyes.

“You don’t like your brother?” asked Aita teasingly. Bolin made a face.

“Not the way he’s acting today,” said Bolin with a tortured sigh.  Aita giggled and led the way out of the of the shop.  They got the chocolate.  Bolin going for the most expensive kind at first.  Aita dryly stated that if Bolin wanted to steal his brother’s current girlfriend, she wasn’t going to foot the bill.  He ha d turned an interesting shade of red and muttered something under his breath. 

Sota had found something more suitable, and fairly inexpensive.  Aita glanced down at it from where she was sitting on the bison; her brother had taken over leading the flying bison.  Aita wasn’t worried; she hardly had to direct the thing when she was on it.  It seemed to be able to sense where she wanted to go.  She hoped Asami liked the chocolate.  The girl seemed nice enough, but she was from a rich family.  Some things she just expected unconsciously.  She wouldn’t find it disgusting because she was rude, rather because it just wasn’t up to the standards that she usually got served.

Aita shrugged.  It was just chocolate.  The most you could whine about it was that it might have a different texture, or the filling wasn’t to your liking, or you preferred light chocolate to dark.  The only chocolate Aita ever found herself hating was the ‘healthy’ type that her supplier had sent with them to encourage them to put it on the market.  It cost more, but none of the kids bought it, and Aita quickly had to agree with their decision. 

When they landed next to the main temple, almost everyone was already outside.  The three kids were playing some sort of game with their airbending, Korra was practicing airbending forms with Tenzin, and Asami and Mako were standing as far apart from each other as possible. Sota slid off the flyinf bison carefully, a few white fairs clinging to his clothes.  He was quickly corralled into the game by the airbending kids.  Bolin slipped down and Korra and Tenzin let their postures relax as Aita came to stand next to Bolin.

“Is something wrong?” asked Bolin.

“No, Pema went into labor almost the second after you three took off,” said Korra. 

“Wow, really, is she alright?” asked Bolin.

“We haven’t…” but the avatar was cut off as a healer called to Tenzin.  He immediately seemed to fly away to where his wife and new born baby were probably waiting for him.  Sota quickly slowed down the airbending kids, probably trying to give the parents a moment to meet their little one and get over that first emotional swell.  Aita followed at the back of the pack.  She was regretting coming here.  She really didn’t care about the avatar and their friend’s dramas.  She really didn’t care who her real father was or getting reconnected with her family. 

“Come on Aita,” said Mako, slapping her on the back.  Aita had thought he was in front of her. “Let’s go meet your cousin.”

Aita winced but nodded.  Personally she thought it was a bit weird how easily everyone accepted that she was related to Tenzin.  Maybe there would have been some tension if they were actually Tenzin’s kid.  Aita wasn’t convinced she wasn’t.  Something had convinced her brother, or Tenzin had legimately not known and even if he was denying Sota just didn’t care because he got to be with the man. Aita didn’t really care.  The fact that she was related to the airbender only complicated things.  She didn’t like that now she had to think about the fact that it was her uncle she’d tried to kill.  She couldn’t compartmentalize as well as Sota, but she was an assassin to a lesser degree, so killing didn’t bother her as much anymore, but Tenzin.  She now had to think about him if simply because she had to factor in the likely hood of him figuring her out, and how she could exploit this new relationship to get information. 

So many things to consider.  She was sure to be confronted by Tenzin soon.  Sota might have agreed to hide what kind of bender he was, but it had been Aita’s idea.  Tenzin would want to know why she encouraged her brother to switch, what she had been afraid of if it was revealed they were benders and thus at least related to Tenzin. 

That was another problem and benefit of Tenzin at least claiming that they were his brother’s screw up, not his.  Tenzin had certain responsibilities as an uncle, and he’d uphold them and beyond.  He’d teach Sota how to airbend and teach the twins about their heritage.  He might even unofficially adopt them, especially if Bumi didn’t take responsibility, but Tenzin wouldn’t get looked down on.  The family might, but Tenzin couldn’t be blamed for Bumi siring illegitimate children. 

Aita really didn’t want to think about it. 

“You wanted to talk to me?” asked Korra as they left the room to give the new family time to say hello to their new family.  Aita shoved the chocolates at Bolin.  He looked confused for a moment before nodding and hurrying off in the direction Asami had gone. 

“Yeah, it seems that Aang wants me to help you connect to the Spirit World, and properly this time,” said Aita and then she shrugged.  Korra seemed to think about this before sighing and walking down the hall toward the beach. 

“I’m about as good at getting connected to the Spirit World as I am with air bending.  I know how to meditate and reach in toward myself, but I can’t connect,” said Korra.

“I wouldn’t worry too much,” said Aita with a shrug. “From what I remember about my studies on avatars, most don’t deal too much with the Spirit World unless they have to.  Avatars are the product of the Real World, but the Spirit World will often speak through an avatar when times become desperate, and the avatar is more drawn to areas where the two worlds are rift between each other.  And Spirits that exist within this world, for whatever reason, are either drawn to the avatar or draw the avatar toward them.  Besides that, I think when the avatar goes into the Avatar state they are connected to the Spirit World.  But that’s where my knowledge stops.”

The avatar sighed again.  They walked down the remaining stairs to the small beach.  The tide was up, which meant there was very little sand in this area before it met the water.  Aita took off her shoes and rolled her pants up to the first scar. 

“I just wish it wasn’t this hard.  I mean, when you read about Aang’s travels, he had a bit of trouble with earthbending, but not as much as I’m having with airbending,” said Korra.

“The avatar often reflects the world at large,” said Aita, shivering as the water washed over her feet. “There are only four, now five airbenders in the world and they all belong to the same family.  The world has missed airbending.  The avatar himself, or herself, didn’t count.  They did not completely embody the spirit of the element.  Thus, since humans have been chosen to represent the elements in this world, the element of air has been less connected to the Real World as it should.”

“But other creatures can bend the elements,” said Korra.

“But we are the only creatures that exist who every lifetime has a being born in it’s species that can bend all elements,” Aita pointed out. “While some creatures can more easily move between the Spirit World and the Real World.  We were the ones gifted with a race that fluctuates between elements, the connection to the Spirit World, and the balance we strike is what allows the equality between all elements, ourselves, and the Spirit World.”

“Watch where you step,” said Korra.  Aita stopped suddenly, turned red, and took a step back.

“Sorry, I don’t know where that came from,” Aita revealed.

“This place really gets into your head, doesn’t it?” asked Korra, sounding a little concerned, and maybe a touch jealous.  Aita nodded and walked a little toward the shore. “You hate it.”

Aita froze.  The avatar was blunt and rough.  Not stupid, but Aita hadn’t thought the other girl would be any good at picking up that the equalist hated her connection.  Maybe that she recented the connection and that she hated that nobody took her seriously because of the negative reputation rooted people had, but not how much Aita hated the connection.

“There’s moments, not many, but right after I get out of the Spirit World that the Real World is crisp and beautiful.  Everything is vibrant and blue and red.  The earth smells deep and sharp, and it feels warm or cold or both at once.  And then I see them again,” Aita looked down to where a water snake had curled itself around Korra’s ankles. “I see everything in a haze that becomes common place, little spirit creatures like to roam the Real World.”

“Are you looking at something?” asked Korra.  Aita blinked and smiled.

“Sorry, I’m used to ignoring them,” said Aita. “You attract a lot of water snakes.”

“What are water snakes?” asked Korra.

“They’re these snake like spirit beings that take images, smells, and words into them, at random or for specific reason depending on timing and fate, and reflect back within their bodies,” said Aita. “They have very little influence in the real world, but I think they can affect waterbenders to a small degree.  Thus why they are following you around and why I call them water snakes.”

“I think they’re actually called Soul Snakes,” said Korra. “My teachers taught me a bit about them.  They used to be the favorite of one of my past reincarnations.  I guess the connection to water was why.”

“Huh, in any case.  I wouldn’t worry about the Spirit World overly much.  Some avatars avoid it almost completely, and you can always access it through certain key points within the year,” said Aita.

“If you mean like the Summer Solstice then it doesn’t work.  Neither did the Full or New moon or whatever that thing for the air was,” said Korra with a sigh.  That caught Aita off guard.

“What about the avatar state?” she asked.  Korra shook her head.

“I watched my best friend eaten… I tried everything…” Korra shook and Aita quickly came to the other girl and put a hand on her shoulder.  She was a bit surprised when Korra turned to hug her.

“Then I guess Aang had a reason to be worried,” said Aita, her feet lifted off the ground a little as the avatar gripped her even tighter. “But I still don’t know how to help.”

Korra must have heard the breathless quality in Aita voice, because she put the shorter girl down.  Aita coughed once and rolled her shoulders and back a couple of times. 

“What about what you did before?” asked Korra, Aita wandered back into the ocean. 

“That only worked because something got tangled up,” said Aita with a shrug.

“But you said I was keeping the Spirit World at bay.  Couldn’t you open it, or force it open like a door?” asked Korra.  Aita paused and then shrugged. 

“I don’t know.  I didn’t really have enough time to meditate on it with everything that’s going on,” said Aita, she then glanced over at Korra and stared at her in interest. “Why are you so interested in reaching the Spirit World?”

“The last time I got the vision I saw Turlock’s father.  I didn’t know what it was at the time, but maybe if I had talked to Aang or been able to explore the vision to a greater degree than I would have known what it meant before Turlock captured me,” said Korra with a shiver.

“The Spirit’s don’t always have an answer to that, and Aang won’t have all the answers,” said Aita softly. “I can’t find out Amon’s identity through the spirits, or the latest gossip, or even if you will win against the Antibending Revolution.”

“But you’ll help?” asked Korra.

“Let me meditate on it.  At the very least I’ll see about getting you connected to your past lives,” said Aita. “Of course, your teachers must have given you the other examples of how to get connected to them besides danger to self or friends.”

“High emotions,” said Korra seriously. 

“And it has to be something extraordinarily meaningful.  A depression so deep the ocean can’t contain it, joy that reaches past the heavens, fear that makes you shrivel and bring the world crashing about your head,” said Aita. “But since the threat of violence didn’t work, I’ll assume the other won’t, if simply because I have no idea how to invoke that sort of emotional reaction within anyone.”

Korra smiled. 

“Tenzin wanted to have a proper talk with you,” she said.  Aita batted the idea away.

“He can wait.  We’ll meditate on this first.” The avatar groaned and Aita grinned ruthfully. “You’ll find that I’m a firm believer in meditation.  It’s what keeps my mind planted in the here and now.  Well, as much as it can be planted, and I haven’t done it nearly enough lately.”

Aita walked onto shore and folded her legs.  Korra just stared at her for a moment before joining her.  Time to slip away, and when they Aita opened her eyes, Korra had slumped over, asleep, the water had retreated, and the sky was going dark.

“I’ll be late,” Aita shouted, standing unsteadily against the sand and her legs tingling.

“Wow, careful Aita,” said Mako, running down to help steady Aita before she crashed back down to the beach.  He then went and helped up the sleepily blinking avatar. 

“We were just coming to see you two.  What were you doing all these hours?” asked Tenzin, sounding amused.

“Aita was meditating on how she could help me get in contact with the Spirit World,” said Korra sleepily. Tenzin nodded.

“I need to head to my meeting.  What time is it?” asked Aita.  Tenzin shook his head.

“You’re not going any longer,” he said firmly.

“What? No. Why?”

“I let my prejudice of what I knew about those who are rooted cloud my judgment.  What you have is a gift Aita, any mental deficiencies you might have suffered because of that connection you’ve overcome and turned into a strength instead.  I should have seen this before,” said Tenzin.  He shook his head and offered a hand toward Aita, but she didn’t take it. “I’m sorry Aita.  I know that these meetings mean a lot to you, but they’re support meetings for those people who aren’t able to connect with anything but their element.  You’re able to talk and interact with the real world.  And unfortunately, I think the only way you’re going to be taken seriously is that we show your connection isn’t weakness but something that can benefit all of us, starting with the avatar.”

Aita just stared at the man for a moment, open mouth like a fish, she just wasn’t sure. She wanted to yell at him.  Spit at him.  Why hadn’t he shown any interest in her besides what he felt was his civic duty before he’d found out she was his niece?  Was the timing just so coincidental?  And how could being caught between two worlds be seen as a good thing?  All it gave her was constant headaches and a gimmick for her store.  Actually, it had also taught her how to fight and take away bending.  Aita wanted to snap at Tenzin, show him exactly what she’d learned from the spirits and why he should regret ever compelling her to find a way out of the Spirit World. 

But she held her tongue.  The ability to travel between the two worlds, her own genetic connection to Tenzin, those were what was allowing her to act as a spy for Amon.  It wouldn’t be long before she got information.  The ex-chief was an old friend of Tenzin, and Tenzin himself was on the council.  They’d probably didn’t think twice of talking at the dinner table about their plans, especially when they had to fill the avatar in on things.  So Aita would have to play it that she was grateful for Tenzin’s praise, that she was finally getting recognition for her rooted status as something useful instead of something pitied.

Aita gripped Tenzin’s hand and smiled.

“What about getting in contact with the Spirit World?” asked Korra, yawning, but looking a good deal more awake than she had a moment before. 

“I’ll tell you my idea tomorrow.  It’s starting to get late and I don’t want to meditate once the sun goes down,” said Aita.  Korra made a face but nodded.  Mako whispered something into her ear that had the avatar giggling.  Aita sighed, but at least everyone had accepted her excuse as to why she couldn’t stay on the island.  But she had a feeling she would be coming back later in the night to Amon than before.

“Aita?” asked Tenzin as Aita fell into step beside him. “I’m guessing Sota told you I’m not…”

“Yeah, though I didn’t give him time to give the reason why,” said Aita, glancing at Tenzin.

“Well, for one thing, I’d have to been pretty young when I fathered you,” pointed out Tenzin.

“I’ve known people to have kids at a younger age,” Aita said dryly.  Tenzin turned red but nodded.  He leaned into Aita and practically whispered to Aita.

“I promise I never slept with your mother.  The only two women I’ve known are Pema and Lin,” he quickly straightened after he finished.  Aita glanced at him suspiciously, but he sounded sincere, and while he was whispering, he probably knew his wife had heard about him ‘knowing’ another woman, though she might have known that from the start.  Still, Aita was inclined to believe.  Aita finally sighed.  It really didn’t matter to her.  As far as she cared, her father was dead to her, even if, maybe especially because, he was a relative to the past avatar.

“Fine, but if I don’t like this Bumi I’m still going to claim your our father,” Aita said, trying to sound teasing.  Tenzin chuckled.

“At least give my brother a chance,” said Tenzin.  Aita nodded, but she was hungry and had plenty of superficial information to pass on to Amon later that night.  She probably shouldn’t have any more than that for her first day. 

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

By the time Aita arrived at the underground training site, she was out of breath.  She took a moment in the shadows to compose herself before she headed into the room.  She waved at Dou and headed to where Amon was watching while Luco laid out a battle plan describing what was probably their next big move.

“We need someone near the back here, but I need to know if you want an opening or if you want us to capture everyone,” Luco said this last bit with a sneer.  Aita agreed.  They suaully gave less important people a way out.  If they just went around killing and capturing everyone, especially during their big moments, then a third of the city would be dead and the rest would either already be an equalist or in prison.

“I haven’t decided yet,” muttered Amon.  Both Aita and Luco looked at Amon, a little taken back.  The answer to that question was obvious, the only reason Luco had asked was because he thought it was expected of him.  Luco had already decided to post less equalists there, and to have them more or less disperse when everyone came tearing out of the building.  The only ones there would be watchers, ensuring that no one important was slipping away. 

Maybe Amon was still shaken up about the rally the other day, or maybe he had a plan that he hadn’t yet finalized or told them about.  A part of the movement that he hadn’t yet set in stone.  Aita and Luco locked eyes for a moment.  Mutual confusion shared and acknowledged before Amon spoke up again. 

“Spirit, why don’t you get settled in our rooms?” asked Amon.  Aita gripped at the bundle of clothes she had stashed under her darker ones.  Amon had said to bring some of her civilian clothes with her a little at a time.  So she’d picked up a water tribe themed one from one of the alleyway’s along her path, and all the ones she kept in the store.  Amon said he’d have them shifted between his quarters, and that the same person who washed Amon’s clothes would wash her.  That was a bit of a relief.  Aita hadn’t had a lot of free time lately, and she didn’t think she would anytime soon.  So her clothes had started to well, smell like they hadn’t been washed in three weeks. 

There was still the problem that Amon would see or at least know who she was if her clothes were described.  Aita never really thought about it before.  Her darker clothes had always sufficiently covered up her civilian ones, and while Aita didn’t go for high fashion, she did have a distinctive look, if simply for convenience.  Her civilian clothes had to fit under her black clothes, so they were form fitting, often water tribe themed, long sleeved, and easy to move in. Aita had slight variations on the themes, but nothing else, the only time she wore something more gaudy was when she was dressed up as a fortuneteller. 

Aita found herself almost relishing the thought.  Maybe one day Aita would be corralled into going into a fight with the equalists or she’d be caught with the avatar in the wrong sort situation and Amon would see what the rooted twin was wearing and he’d know who she was.  Maybe Aita should do more to see if she could help those who were rooted.  Maybe Amon just didn’t care about rooted people one way or the other.  It wasn’t that Amon was a cruel man, but he had a huge change to implement.  He had enough problems without adding in rooted people into it, especially if there was nothing he could do to rooted people. 

A little form clutched onto Aita as she entered into Amon’s quarters.  Aita froze and looked down, then she crouched and lifted the girl’s face she saw the half crocked, glassy eyed gaze of a rooted child.   

“Amon was hoping to experiment a little,” said Bethai, not standing to pull the girl from where she clung to Aita. “That’s the little rooted girl that started the big movement for the orphanages.  Her name is Sura.”

“Hello Sura,” said Aita softly, running her hand through the girl’s hair.  The little girl actually responded a bit, her forehead following Aita’s hand for a second. Aita froze a little in confusion.  She looked up sharply at Bethai.

“I know you weren’t there, but when Amon said the rooted people he tried to help had no reaction, he wasn’t being completely honest.  Most just continued to gaze out uninterested, yes, but two screamed and three started to follow Amon around after a couple of seconds of inaction,” said Bethai.  Aita walked over to the old woman and tried to get Sura to cling to her instead, but the rooted child’s fingers just fastened tightly onto Aita and refused to let go. “It wasn’t that they were more responsive, the screaming was attributed the screaming to the kneeling position we had them in and then someone sneaking behind them.  And we weren’t sure if those three were following him, they could have just started wandering the way rooted people do when left to their own devices.”

Aita nodded but stared.  This all made sense, but why was the girl here now?  And why was Bethai telling her all this.

“It’s become important,” said a slightly distorted female voice.  Aita tried not to jump or show any signs that she was surprised.  In the corner of the doorway stood a smallish figure, delicate looking despite the full equalist uniform and glowing green eyes. 

“Rat,” said Aita with a nod.  Aita didn’t see the person Amon called the Spy Master very often.  Aita, technically, fell under the woman’s jurisdiction, but that had never been a problem.  Aita hardly ever saw the woman, and what communication she had was through Bethai.  All verbal, all about spies and stolen documents.  Aita knew most of the spies this way.  Well, not all, but she knew the ones that Rat had setup as her fallback plan.  Those who would leak information directly to Aita, and who would help her if they could if Aita got caught in a trap.

“Heard you took on a more involved in spying recently.  Amon thought I should be here for the first debrief, and I has some sensitive information I needed to personally relinquish to him, so I came,” said Rat smoothly. She walked into the room and took one of the little girl’s hands.  Sura didn’t seem to notice.  “You’ll probably be seeing me a bit more, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m not telling you who I am,” Aita said with a shrug.  Rat chuckled just under her breath, the electronic cackling with static as she did so.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Rat said.  Aita stared at the Spy Master, trying to read the woman through the standard equalist face mask.  If anyone knew who Aita was it would be this woman.  She had eyes and ears everywhere.  She could have had some beggar see Aita slip one too many times into an alleyway, or heard the wrong things Aita said as either Spirit or herself.  The woman lived on information, more so than Rebc, and almost none of it was written.  Just kept snug in her head until she had use of it.  But Rat said she liked Aita.  She liked the complex ones with their silly little hang-ups.  Oh, Aita wasn’t her favorite.  Rat’s favorite operates were the ones that needed to be ‘taken care of’ sometimes.  The ones that ninety percent of the time didn’t know which side they were on, and swayed between loyalties until one side had to silence them. 

“Rat had something to with my bringing Sura here,” said Bethai, filling in the silence. “I don’t know if that little rooted girl at the rally that has Amon interested in this angle and I can certainly use it to our advantage if it pans out.”

“But it didn’t,” Aita pointed out.

“One trial does not negate anything,” said Bethai. “Just means we have explored all the angles we could have.  Plus, we did get results of a sort, they were just so odd that we wrote them off.”

“But why the interest?” asked Aita.

“Intrigue.  Actually the fact that Amon admitted to not being able to cure rooted people had some people approaching, well, not him, but others.  They want to see if that’s actually true.  Amon actually said that you were learning the technique and were the one with the interest helping those who were rooted,” said Bethai.  Aita sighed. “The difference of your using the ability will ring with some.  Curing those rooted has always been thought to be humanitarian.  Plus, modern medicine has been working on separating the rooted from their element.  This is a process we have come the closest to solving.”

“My thing?” asked Aita.

“Not necessarily.  You can claim to know someone rooted, someone close, and that’s where your interest is.  You can claim you didn’t even think anyone was working on a cure and still be hailed as a hero because you tried,” Bethai said.  Aita wasn’t sure.  It seemed like a good way to have people start to doubt their cause.  But Bethai was the woman who ran their public image, so Aita would work with the new task as well as she could. 

Aita kneeled, placing her bag down next to her and put her hand to Sura’s head.  She closed her eyes and reached.  Aita’s eyes snapped open.  Why hadn’t she tried this before?  But before she could even start to celebrate she watched as the light slipped out of Sura’s eyes and then girl became listless again.

“Spirit?” asked Bethai.

“It works, only for a second,” said Aita.

“But it works.  Why aren’t the rooted reacting then?” asked Bethai.

“They only have a second to be present,” Rat pointed out.  “Most are probably too stunned to properly react, and the screaming ones are the ones who have time to.”

“But they want it, even now Sura trying to mold herself into Spirit.  She must have been able to sense that Spirit could help her,” said Bethai, who grinned cheekily at Aita when the masked girl turned to her as she tried to push the insistent thing away from her.

“I’m undercover,” Aita pointed out.

“And I’ll take the child home with me when I go, but I can’t deny the child an opportunity to hug her aunty Spirit now can I?” teased the woman. “And stop scowling at me behind that mask or I’ll bring in one of the screamers for you to work on next.”

Aita was about to ask what that even meant when the door opened and Amon and Luco walked in.

“Good news.  It seems your trick really does work on rooted people, just not permanently or for very long,” said Bethai.

“Can you work with that?” asked Amon, looking at Aita.  Aita frowned at him.  She rather he didn’t just assume that she would jump to do his bidding, but she was his subordinate, she couldn’t just yell at him that it wasn’t fair she’d been saddled with so much responsibility lately.  It was expected she’d have to do a lot.  She was one of his confidants, and his lover.

“I’ll try,” she said after a pause.  Amon nodded at her and Luco shut the door behind them.

“There’s been a bit of trouble over at the Airship site and the new chief of the metalbending cops is on a rampage, so it will just be us tonight,” said Amon.  Sura wandered over toward him, not letting go of Aita as she did so.  Aita followed the girl obligingly.  There wasn’t much she could do short of forcing the girl to let go of her, and though the kid looked about eight, she’d probably cry or become too stunned if Aita tried that.  Amon chuckled, ruffled the girl’s hair and then pulled Aita into his lap.  Aita squirmed, not comfortable, but she trusted Amon had his reasons for acting silly.  Maybe he was trying to make a point to Luco. 

“Well, what to report?” asked Rat. 

“I’m in, got a position and everything now, still working through some trust issues but…” Aita shrugged. “Most of what I’ve got is gossip though.”

“Gossips good,” said Rat.

“Councilman Tenzin’s wife had a baby boy that they’re certain is an airbender,” said Aita, leaning back into Amon and throwing her arm around his neck.  Finding a comfortable way to sit like this was difficult. “The firebender likes the avatar but he’s dating Mr. Sato’s daughter.  The new airbender went with his sister and the earthbender to get Asami chocolate.  The airbender is officially a student of Tenzin’s and a member of the avatars little group.  And his sister works in there somehow, but no one seems to quite know how yet. And they’re saying Tenzin isn’t the twins father, and that Tenzin’s brother is the father instead.”

Aita hoped that was vague enough.  She really didn’t know anything important.  The ex-chief claimed she trusted Aita now; she was even nice to her during dinner.  But the focus of the talk during dinner had been on the new baby and trying to avoid getting sucked into Mako’s and Asami’s fight.  And then Rat started to interrogate her.  Aita kept as many facts straight, and her answers allusive under the reiteration that she wasn’t giving up enough for them to figure out who she was.  A couple of times Aita found herself answering while her head was still in a spin from the last five rapid connected questions and she just caught herself in time from saying something stupid. 

“That all you need?” asked Rat, finally tearing her gaze and attention back to Amon.  Aita felt like she could breathe again.

“Yes, thank you Rat,” said Amon. 

“Always a pleasure,” said Rat, and with that she was out the window. “See you later Spirit.”

“You two are so a like it’s scary,” said Bethai looking at Aita.

“I’m not like her,” said Aita.  Amon laughed and offered to lead Bethai back to her place as long as it was safe.  Aita was left to herself for a while.  She meditated until Amon came back and distracted her.

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

Aita swung out of the bed, careful not to disturb Amon as she did so and headed for the shower.  The water felt good against her skin and Aita shivered under the cool water.  Maybe she should do this after.  She should definitely throw on some clothes afterward.  Amon had and both of them had slipped on their masks immediately afterward, and it made sense.  The door was locked and weapons were kept close at hand.  Aita literally slept with her knife in her hand the last night.  But someone could bust in, and Aita would rather not fight naked. 

Aita quickly dried her hair as well as she could.  Amon didn’t have a dryer in the immediate vicinity, so it would probably be fine.  She’d just let it dry while she flew the flying bison and then let her brother help.  She’d have to waste some time brushing it after that, but it was better than putting her hair up and keeping her hair damp the rest of the night. 

She slipped the towel around her and entered the bedroom as quietly as she could.  Amon snorted and then turned over.  Aita smiled and then dug under the bed for her clothes.  She couldn’t see what she grabbed, so she didn’t know if it matched, but Aita didn’t really care.  She then slipped on the dark outer clothes.  Aita paused; Amon said he’d have her clothes washed, but that didn’t count her outside clothes, and those were starting to smell a bit too. 

Aita left Amon’s bedroom, locking it behind her and then left out the study window.  She spent the morning at a discreet washers where no one would look twice at her or pay attention to the fact all her clothes were black.  The most they might think is that Aita was ‘dark’ or into a ‘young person’s trend’.  It wasn’t all her dark clothes, and she had to be careful as she picked it all up and then redistributed the clothes and masks into new hideaway spots.  She did this periodically to make sure that they weren’t found.  Or if they were, then they would lose track of them.  Aita prided herself on being able to know when she was being tailed and then learning how to lose that tail.

Aita thought about that for a moment.  Perched on the flying bison she felt a little air sick that morning.  So she concentrated on this new thought.  She could feel a person’s spirit if she concentrated right.  Maybe Aita should try to find people’s bending with that same trick.  Bending was spiritual to a great deal, it wouldn’t be crazy for Aita to know if someone was a nonbender, rooted, or bender with her connection, with her eyes that saw things that wasn’t really there to other people.  She could see more. 

“Aita,” shouted Sota as Aita told the flying bison to land.  He was jumping ten feet into the air with the help of his bending. Aita was glad that they hadn’t given Sota one of the hang glider things.  Maybe they didn’t have those anymore.  Aita would be glad for that.  She didn’t trust her brother to act maturely if he actually had the ability to fly. “Aita.”

“Stop that or you’ll scare the thing,” said Aita.

“It has a name,” said Sota, landing on the flying bison’s head.

“Do you know what it is?” asked Aita.  Slipping off the creature since if had landed a second after her brother had landed on it.

“Well no,” said Sota.  Aita rolled her eyes and waved to Korra, who paused in her forms to wave back.  Bolin sleepily stumbled next to the avatar and started to do his own set of warm-ups. 

“You’re all up late,” said Aita.

“How much coffee did you have?  And it’s only eight,” said Sota, and then he shook his head. “Not important. Guess what, Aita, guess what? Guess what?”

“What?” asked Aita mostly to make her brother stop being obnoxious. 

“Our grandmother is coming later today.” Aita froze in her steps.

“What?”

“Yeah, I know.  Apparently the conditions were right or something and she got the message by airwaves or whatever yesterday and took the first boat she was able to down here and she’ll be here this afternoon. We just got the message this morning.  Isn’t that great Aita?  We haven’t ever had a real grandmother.  Not really,” Sota kept talking, but Aita found herself retreating.  Katara.  If her father was really Bumi or even Tenzin then Katara was her grandmother and her grandmother was then the most powerful waterbender still alive.  Certainly the most powerful healer. 

“Aita?” asked Sota.

“I need more coffee.”


	11. In the Dark of the Night

Aita sat opposite Korra, their hands clasped together as they both took calming breaths and tried to settle their minds.  Korra was eager to start something that she hadn’t already deemed impossible, though how it could be impossible for an avatar to bend one of the elements, Aita wasn’t sure.  So, Aita was going to see if she could drag the avatar with her into the Spirit World.  Aita felt her body relax as she let her mind slip away and she lazily opened her eyes in the Spirit World.  The equalist looked around, huffed a little when it was clear the avatar hadn’t followed her like she’d wanted her to.  Well, that had been a long shot.  It was a bit of a shock that Aang wasn’t near here either, but then again, Aita wasn’t even one hundred percent sure how he existed in the Spirit World.  The whole blue thing made Aita think that he was a spirit to the Spirit World.

A small breeze caught Aita’s hair, sending it flying in front of her face.  The Spirit World hummed in her ears, and Aita saw a couple of the floating lights in the distance and a couple of multi-winged ideas in the shape of a cat bird flew past her.  Aita was just about to reach out when something tugged at her.  She paused, hand still reaching, and then turned to where her brother’s voice seemed to emanate.  Aita smiled when she saw the mirrored pools in front of her.  Odd, her brother’s lack of presence was what drew to the Real World the first time, now it’s presence was what was calling her to the Real World.

With a sigh, Aita opened her eyes.  Then she blinked and looked back to see that somehow she had stood up and walked past the avatar, who was now holding her arm.  They stared at each other for a moment until Aita glanced back to where Sota was shouting her name.

“What?” she snapped.

“Nothing,” he shouted and then went back to playing with the airbending kids. 

“You’re back,” said Korra, sounding surprised.  Aita raised one eyebrow but nodded.

“You didn’t follow me,” Aita pointed out.

“I didn’t even feel you leave.  We were sitting here and then you’re brother started shouting at you and you started to walk over, glassy-eyed toward him,” said Korra. “I thought you’d given up at first, but then you didn’t respond.”

“It’s actually sort of weird that I collapsed the last few times I went into the Spirit World,” said Aita and then she made your face. “I’m going to blame that on your past life.  Usually I just go glassy eyed and start acting like a normal rooted person.  It’s what Tenzin said I did when I first learning how to drag myself into the Real World. The fact I was fainting was actually a little troubling.”

“Oh,” said Korra.

“Though, if this is what all rooted people go through, then I can debunk the theory that they’re semi-conscious,” said Aita, sitting back down and smiling at the avatar.  Korra just stared back at Aita in confusion and the equalist rolled her eyes. “Theories suggest that while most of their mind is caught in whatever element, the person has at least a little awareness and control.  Explained by the fact that they respond to outside stimuli like extreme emotions and can even learn simple commands.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Korra.  Aita frowned at the avatar.

“And you don’t really care, do you?  I bet there was someone like me.  Well, that had the same condition as I did where you came from.  I bet she was kept locked up and no one really talked about them but in hushed tones,” said Aita bitterly.  Korra flushed.

“Then I wouldn’t have known about them then would I have?” she demanded.  Aita balled up her fists.  Ignorant.  The avatar was ignorant and the twat was happy that way.  Korra probably preferred it that way.  The avatar didn’t care how bending hurt people.  She didn’t care about anything but herself.  She was so tied up in her bending she wouldn’t even see how it destroyed everyone and everything around her.  The avatar was poison.

Someone’s arms wrapped hard around Aita and a body crashed into her.

“Sorry,” muttered Sota into Aita’s middle.  Aita groaned in pain and pushed at her brother in irritation.  She really had to start paying more attention when she wasn’t in her mask.  Aita herself didn’t need to be so pathetic.  She knew how to fight like an airbender and firebender, as long as she didn’t reveal that she was also an accomplished chi blocker than she could at least do things like defend herself against her father’s drunken attacks and her brother’s clumsy attempts to stop a fight.

“Get off,” Aita grumbled, as she started to regain her breath. 

“Lost control of the scooter,” Sota grumbled, clumsily.  Aita didn’t care.  She didn’t even ask how he could have crashed a scooter without her hearing the crush of metal or the squeal of tires. 

Sota stood and laughed, before turning back and offering Aita his hand, a wide smile spread across his stupid face.  Aita ignored his offer, but her brother still caught her when she stumbled a little as she was standing up again. 

“This isn’t working,” said the avatar overly dramatically, her eyes wandering toward where Mako was.  Aita glared at the avatar before sighing.

“This was our first try,” Aita said, trying to sound as if she being patient.  It would actually be better for the equalist if the avatar continued to be pigheaded and quick to lose her patience.  If the avatar never learned to airbend then that could only help Amon.  Not that Aita thought Amon would lose to Korra.  Hell, Amon would probably figure out how to beat the avatar even if Korra was able to access the avatar state. “It would help if you would concentrate.”

“I can’t,” said the avatar, running a hand through her hair.  Sota slipped away.  Aita scowled after him but then turned back to the avatar who was standing, stiff and awkward, feet crossed, hand tangled in hair, other one behind her back, and her face red and turned to the ground. “It’s so confusing.  I love him, and I know he loves me.  I see it in his eyes.  But Asami…  This isn’t fair to her, and I know he cares about her. He shouldn’t love me.  I can deal with it, but Asami.  After having so much and losing it so suddenly and then this.  I like her.  She’s my friend, and I don’t want to do this to her.”

The avatar’s voice sounded so broken.  Aita tugged at a lock of hair in irritation and cursed her brother.  She didn’t want to deal with the avatar’s emotional baggage.  Amon was trying to destroy this city, according to the avatar and all of her friends, and yet here Korra was, more worried about her love life than she was about what her enemy’s next move was.  The avatar wasn’t even trying to access the Spirit World or her airbending anymore.  She was too caught up in her own drama to see anything outside something so superfluous as a relationship.  Aita just couldn’t understand that. 

“I don’t care,” Aita found herself saying before she could stop herself.  She immediately clamped her mouth shut, but she wouldn’t apologize.  Because she didn’t care.  There was only so much Amon could do with useless drama and the same reports of ‘the avatar can’t go to the Spirit World or airbend’.  Still, that had been a little callous of her, even considering her reputation.  Usually she just let the person yammer at her while she looked around for patterns interlaid from the Spirit World, or if the person had a spirit attached to them she would watch it interact and subtly lead it’s host to say certain things.  The equalist hardly ever criticize unless she knew the person or was actively interested in making the other person go away.

“I’m sorry.  Your relationship must have been a breeze,” said Korra bitterly.  Aita crossed her hands and stared at the avatar for what had to be a few second too long before she sighed.  The eqaulist had to make the avatar like her, at least a little.  She couldn’t alienate the other girl at least.  Becoming friends with the avatar was the quickest way to get information.  Not that everyone was keeping information from her on purpose, it was just that her brother knew nothing, Bolin pined after Korra or pro-bending, and the others were just too awkward around her to strike up a conversation or ask her to officially join their group.

Maybe Aita should find more reasons to hang around Asami.  The other girl might be a little stuck up, but her background gave her a free pass on that like Aita’s chip on her shoulder got a free pass based on her past.  Plus, Asami was more interesting than she let on.  A little too into things like cars and pro-bending, but Aita and Asami understood each other a little.  As much as Sota said Aita didn’t act like a girl, she did.  Aita paid attention to what she wore, she even cared what it looked like, she was just more interested in its practicality over anything else. 

Still, Aita was expected to get along with the avatar, and if she didn’t, that might look suspicious, if she didn’t even try to then the ex-chief might even have some grounds to start suspecting her again. 

“It’s not the same.  You’re in a whirlwind relationship.  It’s all passion and feeling,” said Aita and then huffed as she looked into the sky. “The first time I kissed the guy I’m living with.  Well, he kissed me, but I kissed back because I didn’t want to lose him.  Because I thought that if we did have a relationship and we slept together he’d be more connected to me, that he would find it harder to drop me and kick me out of the apartment.  I think he had similar thought pattern.  I think as much as he wanted to kiss me, it was also away he could make me stay, to ensure that I was going to be loyal to him, follow him, believe in him.  Sometimes I wonder if our relationship is doomed to fail. We’re not manipulating each other, but we want so much to be the others emotional support without relying on the other in the same manner.”

“That sounds…” the avatar trailed off, looking a little dazed. And then she huffed. “That doesn’t help at all.  And I don’t have any advice for you either.”

“It’s fine,” said Aita with a chuckle. “Sometimes you just need to get it off your chest. I do care; I’m just stuck in the same place as you.  I have no good advice to give you about your situation.  It’s to removed from mine, and I don’t even know how to fix my own problems.  I can hardly expect you to know how to.  And really, I don’t think there is any good advice anyone can give us.  You’ll just have to stick it out and follow what your head, or you heart, tells you.”

“What if they disagree?” asked the avatar miserably. 

“Of course they disagree, that’s why I said head or heart, not head and heart,” said Aita, but pushed the avatar playfully as she did so. “Now come on, no more feeling sorry for yourself.  Heart to heart time is over and it’s time over and if you keep wallowing I’ll see if suffocation is the right way to get you to the Spirit World.”

So they tried.  Aita was pretty sure the morning went well after that only because they didn’t talk and one time Aita spent a little extra time in the Spirit World ‘puddle jumping’.  By the time they were called in to lunch, both Aita and Korra agreed that they’d had enough for the day. A clear mind through meditation was hard to reach when meditation was starting to piss you off. 

“I’m guessing it didn’t go well?”  asked Tenzin as they sat down.  The avatar cracked her back before sitting.  Aita herself rolled her shoulder and tried to massage feeling back into her legs.  The equalist figured she should probably run after lunch to get the blood really pumping through them again. 

“I think I felt something.  Which is more than I’ve ever been able to do on my own,” said Korra with a shrug.  She quickly dug into her food. “This is good Pema.”

“Say it, don’t spray it,” said Bolin.  Everyone chuckled, though Tenzin’s kid found Bolin’s joke hysterical and laughed so hard that he was rolling on the floor. 

“Really,” said Tenzin, looking a little bashful and even blushing.  Aita looked around.  Chief Lin wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but she probably looking after the men she rescued.  Aita thought there was a cruel irony somewhere in that situation, but she didn’t care to find it.

After lunch she had an hour to run and do a couple of forms with her brother.  He already knew the basics to airbending, and Tenzin was quick to praise him and drag Korra over to watch him.  Eventually Korra disappeared.  Aita didn’t think she’d left the island, but the island had enough places far enough away from Tenzin that she could claim she hadn’t heard him calling.  And then the boat came.  It was huge, metal, and probably held more than an old waterbender.  But for a moment Aita had an image of a woman so important and as big as her reputation that she believed that Katara needed a boat that size and that sturdy to ferry her to her meet her grandchildren.   

Aita hung back, and so did Sota.  He didn’t cower behind her, in fact he stood in front of her, like he was a shield.  Aita was almost glad.  Something’s about her brother never change.  While he could be all talk and bravado, like saying that if he ever had the chance, he’d tell Tenzin he had kids and we were really his.  But when it came to it, it wasn’t that he chickened out, it was that he became cautious, actually started looking at the situation and realizing everything that could go wrong and everything he could ruin by saying the wrong thing. 

Plus, he knew that Aita wasn’t as confident with their newly discovered family as he was.  Aita was less sure of Katara now that she had heard, or well, not heard how the water tribe treated people like her.  Would it matter that she’d unrooted herself and now lived in the real world?  Or would she still be seen as something wrong, something to be hidden away and forgotten about?

Katara wasn’t visible as they made their way down the slope to where a smaller boat had docked.  Aita knew where she was.  The three kids were bouncing all over one spot, talking a mile a minute, and even Korra and Bolin were trying to be heard over the din.  Mako held back with Asami.  If they knew they were standing together, Aita wasn’t sure.  Both of them seemed to be trying to let the other’s have their little freak out over the fact the most powerful waterbender had arrived, while also restraining themselves to act similarly to their comrads. 

“Now, now, I know you’re excited,” Aita heard an old, crackled voice say before Bolin of all people drowned her out.  Mako rolled his eyes and then his gaze sprang back to where Sota and Aita were standing, holding back and waiting for their turn while the stomachs turned in anticipation.  Aita didn’t have a link to her brother, not the same way some twins claimed to be linked, but sometimes it felt like they got close.  Like they had a moment where they shared the exact same thought, not the same thought from two people, but a thought shared by two people.  Well, it was hard to explain.  But there were moments where they almost felt like the same person dragged into two bodies, and this was one of those.  Aita herself didn’t think a thought about equalists or how this would affect her standing, all that mattered was Katara’s reaction to her.  Would she hate them?  Would she love them because they were her blood?  Would she see them and only see her son’s childish mistake?

Mako grabbed Sota and dragged him toward the mess of people. The older brother must have said something because Korra and Bolin hastily took a couple of steps back, soon followed by the airbending siblings who all ran somewhere behind her.  A thin arm slipped behind Aita’s back and started to drag her forward.  Old blue eyes now looked at them, passing between Sota and Aita, a small smile spread across an old face. 

Katara lifted her arms, tears in her eyes, and Sota broke free of Mako and threw himself into his grandmother’s arms.  Katara just held him closer.  The twins hadn’t been received like this before.  Their mother’s grandmother had distanced herself from her daughter after she gave birth to them, and while their stepfather’s mother was pleasant to them.  There was a gap there that couldn’t be overcome.  Sota shook a little as he held their grandmother in a tight embrace and then turned and grabbed Aita when Asami had brought his twins close and then he forced them all into a tight hug. 

“I’m so glad to finally meet you two.  I’m sorry it took so long,” said Katara.  She let them go and Aita immediately pulled away while her brother was a little slower.  Sota had a huge smile plastered across his face, and he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

“It’s good to meet you too, uh,” Sota trailed off, unsure what to call their grandmother.  She seemed open enough with them, but she was also the most powerful waterbender there was, that could call for at least some ceremony. 

“Call me gran-gran,” said the old woman making both her grandchildren stare at her in surprise.  Korra chuckled. “I’m afraid I was a little overly anxious to get here, and I’d rather hear about you from your own mouth.”

She smiled at them and the twins looked at each other, unsure how to continue.  Finally Sota took a step forward and stuck out his hand.

“I’m Sota, an airbender,” he said.  Katara shook his hand, looking bemused as she did so, but then her expression tightened.

“I thought you were Bumi’s kids,” she said.

“Bending can skip a generation.  It doesn’t happen a lot, but it happens once in a while. Right Aita?” asked Sota, looking back and giving Aita sad dog bear eyes.  Aita huffed.

“I’m Aita,” she said simply, placing her hands behind her back, because at least she knew that you didn’t shake your grandmother’s hand. 

“Just Aita?” asked Katara.

“She’s rooted to the Spirit World,” said Sota happily.  The waterbender frowned and Aita felt herself blush.

“I’ve heard of the term rooted before, but you must not mean it in the same context,” said Katara.

“He does.  I was supposed to be a waterbender, somehow ended up rooted in the Spirit World.  They took me away from Sota so I found a way out of the Spirit World.  I’m guessing being rooted to the Spirit World is different than the elements.  The Spirit World is more helpful for one thing,” said Aita haltingly. 

“She can learn something’s from the Spirit World.  Like she learned somehow how to airbend and taught me the basics.  I don’t mean she can airbend but…” Sota trailed off.

“I think I understand what you mean,” said Katara she looked over at Aita again. “But that hardly tells me anything about you two.  Names and the state of your bending.  Really, we are family.”

“Well, I’ve never had to introduce myself to family,” said Sota.

“We’ll take it slowly then,” said Katara with a smile. She turned to Korra. “It’s good to see you dear.”

“It’s good to see you too,” said Korra with a bow.  There was something in her eyes that made Aita paused. 

“You don’t like them better than us do you?” asked the little girl, running and throwing her arms around Katara.

“Of course not, but I have to make up for lost time,” said Katara.

“Seventeen years,” said Sota.

“Sixteen,” Aita corrected.

“Birthday is in three days.  Seventeen,” said Sota. Aita glared at him, but she was surprised he hadn’t mentioned it sooner.  Aita tried to detangle herself from Bolin as everyone erupted into plans and yells of birthday from Tenzin’s little boy and youngest girl.  Obviously just happy to hear they’d be getting cake and playing games.  Aita had almost hoped that with everything going on around them, her brother would forget about their birthday until it was gone.  He wouldn’t mention it after the fact, he would just change their age if asked.  Bolin might remember and berate them, but after the fact would be after the fact.

Aita finally pulled away from the rest of them, brushing her shoulder irritably as she left.  It had felt like Bolin had been trying to break her shoulders under his weight.  Katara was talking softly with her son, and the girls were around the baby while the boys stood to the side and chatted while watching Tenzin’s youngest son shout intelligibly into the air. 

So that was the strongest waterbender.  A little underwhelming in some ways, but the old woman probably changed drastically from a smiling, kind old woman into a force of nature when she was bending.  Aita headed over to the baby.  She needed to learn something, and as much as she wanted to retreat into the woods and get in some actual meditation in.  Now that a new player was here, they’d want to catch her up on what was happening and their plans.  Aita wanted to be there when that happened.  Well, if they waited until after she had left, then Aita would know if they were suspicious of her or not. 

A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T

Aita brushed back the young rooted woman’s hair as she heard her old mediator called out the name of the family and some equalists came to take the young woman away.  Somehow Bethai was able to convince half the parents to leave their rooted children two hours after the session for extra help. 

Aita hadn’t come until late, and Luco hadn’t even explained where they were going just grabbed her hand and taken her away.  Aita wasn’t sure if this was worth it.  She had tried to talk him out of it.  She knew where the avatars group now planned to direct their attacks.  She had to tell Amon that Katara was at Air Temple Island.  Hopefully he already knew, but it couldn’t hurt to make sure.  And the sooner he knew, the more he could plan.

Rat appeared out of the darkness and quirked her fingers for Aita to follow her, after a second Aita did so.  Rat had Aita stand just inside the door, in the shadows, but so the few people still talking to Aita’s old mediator for the rooted support group could see her.  No one seemed to see her at first, and then it was just a glance, Aita instinctively pulled back into the shadows.  She didn’t see much that happened.  A couple of people looked her way, but they were too obscured for her to even try and read their lips.  Not that she was very good at that trick anyway.  The only thing that kept her from heading down the stairs to give Rat her report was the fact that Rat herself was signaling Aita to stay put.

Finally, when everyone had left, Rat led Aita down to the basement and they had a battle of wills.  Rat tried her hardest not only to get all the information out of Aita as she could, but also try and make Aita slip up and give a dead give away to who she was.  Aita danced around the subject.  At first the double questions, the misleads, the prods from Rat were annoying.  Aita didn’t want to tell anyone who she was. She’d kept the secret so long that tripping up and admitting who she was to Rat seemed like she’d hid it for nothing.  But soon she got into the game, trying to spin the story just right to throw any investigation off kilter.  Because Rat could figure out who she was if the other woman put her mind to it.  Rat was the spy master for a reason. 

After they were done, Rat gave her some basic information.  Sometimes she fed her spies false information.  If any ‘equalist plans’ came up at the dinner table, then Rat wanted Aita to report them.  Then Aita was let go.  She had nothing else to do, and probably wouldn’t do much else but spy and work on trying to permanently fix the rooted people that Bethai could bring to her.  Maybe she’d make an appearance at a training ground or assembly line.  But with this spy job, her image as the leader of the troops would suffer.

It was after midnight when she made it to the room Rat had told her Amon was staying at.  She had avoided meeting anyone.  What did the troops think of her losing her title as chief, or whatever they had started calling her?  Had she really lost it?  Had they ever really thought she was their war leader, or had they just thought it was a way to introduce her to the new recruits as the battle came to the foreground?

Aita wondered if there really was anything she could do for the rooted people.  Sure, she’d dragged herself from the Spirit World, but that was different.  She could still see the Spirit World.  Even her trick didn’t drag her from her curse. 

Not that she deserved it.  There were some religious sects that put a deal of emphasis and belief not only in the rebirth cycle, but in what the last life brought to the new one.  It was thought that the soul would slowly ascend, that each new life brought an unconscious understanding of the world and all those that lived on it, until finally, in the final life all that knowledge would gather and then be released into the world.  The spirit would start over again, the knowledge ‘lost’ to it.  But the spiritual energy stored in that being would feed both the Spirit World and their world, strengthening the bonds together and giving each energy so they could continue to exist. 

But some thought slightly differently, they believed that there was something called karma, that good and bad energy did follow a spirit from life to life, but that karma determined where and how you were born.  An evil king might be someone destitute in the next life.  A bloodbender might be rooted in her next one.

“Spirit, you still awake?” Aita jumped a little at Amon’s voice.  He was standing by the door.  He closed it softly and Aita brushed at the undergarments she had stripped down to.  The light was still on.  But Amon had seen this all before, as long as she didn’t take off her mask she hadn’t broken any rules.

“I have some information,” she stammered, and then she started blushing when he clicked off the light, throwing them into complete darkness. 

“Rat already filled me in.  I trust her to be thorough.” Aita huffed, but Amon was putting his hands on her mostly bare shoulder, fingers playing with the thin bra strap.  Aita lifted up her mask, and looked up in order to capture Amon’s kiss.

Aita fell asleep in Amon’s arms again, this time she had slipped on some clothes and helped clean up.  It took her a little while to fall asleep.  Amon probably wouldn’t be happy if he realized Aita continued to function on four to three hours of sleep.  Aita really did hate sleep, and in her mind she was wasting too much of her time on it lately.  But he obviously cared, and Aita actually liked being in this position.  Sure, she’d crashed the other two days, but now she had time to be with Amon while he was weakest.  It was odd.  She expected him to be jumpy, just on the edge of sleep, especially with her there, but he didn’t even stir when she ran her hand up his arm.

A smile graced Aita’s lips.  She hadn’t lied to Korra about her insecurity in this thing that she had with Amon, but she couldn’t help but feel that this was right.  She was supposed to be in Amon’s arm.  He was supposed to be hers, and she was his.  Amon wasn’t controlling her.  He was her leader, but at the end of the day it was Aita who decided to follow him.  And she wasn’t just some mindless groupie.  She could stand equal to him and he would listen to her.  When she voiced uncertainty or criticism of what he was doing, he listened to her.   

At some point, Aita finally fell asleep.  When she woke up at first she didn’t know what had woken her.  It had only felt like a second had passed, and she didn’t even remember falling asleep, though the heaviness of her limbs and mind clearly told her she’d drifted off at some point.  But Amon’s obnoxious alarm clock hadn’t woken her up, and neither had her own internal alarm.  Aita’s hand gripped hard around her knife and in an instant she was up, blade crashing with another.  Aita’s heart leapt to her throat, and she acted on instinct.  She quickly moved in on the attacker, easily slipping out of the bed and tackling him to the ground and away from the bed.  The person under her fought back.  They each instantly attacked with their specialty.  Whoever she was grappling with knew how to earthbend, and it took some tricky maneuvering to keep him from locking her hands or legs together.  He also knew some basic chi-blocking. Just enough to stop some of her attacks and hit a couple of spots on her.  Thankfully he didn’t know much and she only got a couple of scrapes and bruises, well, her arm was a little numb, but she’d cut their would be assassin up a good bit during their struggle if the slick blood on him was any indication. 

The lights flickered on, and Aita shielded her eyes, head still cloudy and trying to catch up to what had just happened.  The assassin, decked all in black, face covered in cloth, fled.  Aita, still trying to get her barrings only saw that he was heading toward the bed, and knew she had to protect Amon no matter what.  She followed him, even as he catapulted out the window.  Aita thought she might have heard someone calling for Spirit behind her.  But all she cared about was catching the bastard who had broken in while she and Amon slept and tried to kill them. 

The assassin led her on a merry chase.  Both of them ended up cursing a few times.  Aita quickly figured out she knew the city better than he did, or at least she knew the back alleys and all their tricks better than him.  She was also a better climber.  Unfortunately he was taller than her and could run faster.  Still, even with him throwing earth at her, trying to lose her by sprinting or running into the ‘open’ which wasn’t too crowded or worrisome at four in the morning, she kept right on his tail. 

That was until they took a sharp turn right into metalbending cops.  Aita swore and quickly turned sharply, scaling up the side of a building, swearing when the metalbending cops made the stairs she was standing on shake under her feet and start to collapse in on her.  Somehow she was able to make it to the top of the roof and then she sprinted.  She jumped just right to avoid the metal bindings that flew dangerously close to her body.  She landed on the roof of the next building and then dropped down and into someone’s apartment when she heard a whirl was meant the metalbenders were above her.

The next hour was spent first losing the metalbending cops, a few close calls, but in the end, somehow, a sprained ankle had let her lose them.  Then she spent a half an hour making sure she’d lost them.  Finally she made it to the edge of the city.  The slap of the ocean against the docks helped send a comforting shiver down her spine and Aita had to stop, keeping to the darkest shadows she could find with her head down as she just listened to the crashing of the waves. 

Finally Aita took a deep breath and headed to the front guard.  When she got there, the men looked hesitant to let her through.  Aita couldn’t blame them.  Her breath was still coming in harsh pants. And while she had on her customary mask, she was only in night clothes.  They covered her and were loose, but they were a far cry from the dark, bulky clothes she was usually seen in. 

She got in after a little debate.  Tozen greeted her, looking first shocked at her state and then taking her to see Orlang.  Aita didn’t say anything.  She felt like she had failed somehow.  How could she have just left Amon like that to pointlessly try and run after an assassin?  She should have stayed and made sure that Amon was alright.  Instead, now she was cut up and bruised with had a sprained ankle.  All she could hope for now she was no one noticed or reported to the avatar or one of her friends that they’d lamed Spirit, and that her clothes would be enough to cover all the patched up cuts that littered her skin and burned holes into her pajamas. 

“Spirit,” said Amon when he came into the infirmary.  He quickly walked over and drew her into a hug.

“She’s all patched up now and can leave whenever,” said Orlang, leaving without hardly saying a word to Aita. 

“I thought I lost you,” said Amon softly, straightening and helping Aita to stand.  Aita noted that both Tozen and Luco were behind Amon.  Tozen had lifted an eyebrow, but Luco looked like he was in a hurry.

“I’m sorry.  I should have stayed to make sure you were alright,” whispered Aita.  He could feel her chuckle.

“I was more worried about you actually,” said Amon.

“Does that happen a lot?” Aita demanded.  Amon shook his head. Aita swallowed.  Before her, Amon had slept more during the day, or caught catnaps before he moved to the next location.  With him spending at least five to six hours in one place, asleep, he was more vulnerable to attacks like the ones today.  Also, people had to tell Aita where he was sleeping.  Aita often knew where he was, true, but it seemed like Amon was making a real point to make sure Aita knew where he was. 

“No, but they’ve been cracking down that we’re getting more steam and followers,” said Amon.

“Which is why we should be working to overtake this city and move forward before they send an entire fleet here to exterminate us,” growled Luco. “Don’t take this too much to heart, Spirit.  It wasn’t you.  Personally I’m glad you’re with him.  Amon sleeps like the dead a lot of the time.”

“I don’t wake up very quickly,” said Aita. Luco laughed.

“Spirit, you not only stopped the assassin. You chased him down.  That’s awake enough, better than any of the guards posted around Amon’s room,” said Luco. Aita found herself blushing.  She hefted herself off the bed, grabbing a crutch she got up.  Amon quickly supported her.  His eyes staying a little too long on her wrapped ankle.

“It’s fine.  I don’t think they noticed it, and I can claim that I hurt myself partying,” said Aita.

“We should probably go somewhere more private to talk,” said Tozen. Amon nodded and they left. 

They didn’t talk about much.  Apparently the assassination attempt wasn’t the only thing going on.  At some point Korra, or someone else had decided to head out to fight equalists in the middle of the night.  Luco said they’d been planning a small demonstration, just civilian followers, in one of the more nonbender parts of town and it had been crashed by metalbending police.  The entire situation had gotten out of control, and Aita felt she’d have no problem explaining away her sprained ankle and even where the assassin had caught her with his knife and earthbending.

Amon sent Tozen with the men who were rested and able to go help Lee contain the situation.  Amon himself was actually staying behind.  The situation was deemed too volatile for Amon himself to be seen.  If Amon could have swooped in with some elites and overtaken the situation, then he would have gone, but Lee and the men who used to be on detail protecting him were already on scene. Things were dying down, though not favoring the equalists from what Aita heard. 

Amon said something about getting Bethai, Rebc, and Mr. Sato up in order to have a conference with them.  In the end Aita was the one who supported Amon into bed and settled in for an hour of sleep.  Amon hadn’t mentioned her ankle, but Aita could tell it bothered him, though for what reason she couldn’t be sure. 

Amon must have switched his schedules for the most part if he was so tired.  Aita wanted to pretend it was just for her, but she had a feeling that Amon would have been happy to just let her sleep, or get out and do his own thing after she had fallen asleep.  Aita was sure the change had to do with Amon moving to the next phase of their takeover of Republic City, but she wouldn’t waste time guessing. 


	12. The Infiltrators

It took a while for Aita to hobble to the dock after she had ditched her dark clothes and mask.  As Spirit she could find creative ways to lessen the strain on her ankle and even ditch her cane.  As Aita, she was stuck supporting her weight on a crutch the same as anyone.  Aita found herself cursing her stupidity not long after ditching her clothes.  Maybe she could fool the avatar and all of them, but if any other equalists were working for Rat that had even a cursory mission where they had some advantage to see the avatar and her friends, they might see her limping, same foot sprained and using the same cane that Orlang seemed to keep in bulk at every major facility. 

Still, it was a little late to go back on her plan, and even if she had given away her position as Spirit to her alleys, it wasn’t worth backtracking and possibly also being found out by the people she was spying on.  Aita had a feeling not even her brother would forgive her for what she’d done and what she’d try to do.  He often defended their stepfather.  How would he feel about knowing that Aita had actively sought to kill their uncle, especially since at the time she attempted the assassination she’d thought Tenzin was her father?

The sight of the waiting sky bison cheered the equalist up and made her feel guilty.  Whoever was watching the beast had probably been there for at least fifteen minutes.  Aita hurried up her hobbling, but as she looked around, she realized she didn’t see anyone standing by the flying bison.  There were normal dock workers, but all of them seemed to be ignoring the huge beast.

Aita walked up to the sky bison, petting it absently as she passed its head.  One of the workers came and helped her climb the beast when he noticed her throwing up the crutch and balancing on one foot with a look of concentration on her face.  Aita hefted herself up, and then almost squeaked when she saw Katara already there, looking at her crutch with a frown on her old wrinkled face.

“Katara, I mean gran-gran,” said Aita. “Um.”

“I was worried after the reports last night,” said Katara.  Aita shifted uncomfortably.  Was the old woman suspicious of her?  The waterbender probably wouldn’t immediately jump to Aita being an equalist, but she might wonder if she was a sympathizer, especially if Bolin or Mako had slipped up and told the old woman about Aita’s past with her stepfather. “I heard you tended to stay up late, partying. You get caught in some of the excitement last night?”

“Mostly bad luck, actually.  I almost missed it,” said Aita with a shrug. 

“I heard that even with Tarlock missing, metalbending cops have been hard on nonbenders.  I suppose they would count you among that number,” said Katara, her distaste at the notion clear in her voice.  She’d also taken Aita’s ankle in hand and was starting to unwrap the bandages.  Despite Aita’s misgivings about benders, there was a small part of her that jump around with joy, that made her heart beat not with fear but with reverance, that she got to be healed by one of the most powerful waterbenders that existed.  A waterbender whose name would travel through history until the human race was wiped out. 

“Yeah well, I’m a nonbender to benders, and as good as a bender to nonbenders,” said Aita, wincing a little at first as healing water worked into her skin and began to heal.  Thankfully, it was only a sprain; it wasn’t like she’d broken anything. 

“I suppose that gets in the way,” said Katara.  Aita shrugged.

“I don’t socialize much, even when I’m at a club, and as long as no one knows me and I don’t tell them, no one knows I’m rooted,” said Aita. “Course that doesn’t help too much.  Nonbenders that say anything about benders that’s overly aggressive about benders soon find out I am a little overprotective of my brother and that I am reasonably good at fighting firebender style without actually firebending.”

“Firebending style?” asked Katara, her hands retreating back to her lap.  She sounds amused by Aita’s choice of wording.  Aita felt a blush spread across her face. “Don’t blush like that.  I think it’s wonderful.  Reminds me of my brother.”

“Oh,” said Aita.  The equalist rubbed her ankle. “I’ll fly us back then.”

Aita scrambled to the front of the beast.  Katara smiled and leaned back on the high saddle.  Aita glanced back a few times to see Katara staring at her and smiling.  Maybe it would be better this way.  Aita didn’t want to know the old woman.  Aita hadn’t thought about her family.  She’d assumed she was Tenzin’s kid, assumed he knew or didn’t care, and then decided the rest of them would never want to see the illegitimate children.  She’d just pretended they didn’t exist before they could.  So of course, when they start to work things out, it turns out that the only one who doesn’t want to help estranged kids is their father. 

Aita sighed as the beast landed.  She moved back and helped Katara off the flying bison.  Her grandmother puttered around and checked that no one was awake yet.  Tenzin’s wife was huffing outside the doors and Tenzin himself was propped up and yawning.  Apparently Team Avatar had never gotten any sleep.  Aita at first found that entertaining.  While her people certainly didn’t win the fight, team avatar and the metalbending cops hadn’t gotten their hands on any operatives.  A few zealots, but Bethai would be able to work with that.  The old woman tended to think that people who worked on their own outside Amon’s orders were nuisances and should be locked up for their own good.  Amon didn’t agree, but he didn’t have direct control over his own image. 

Aita was less amused when she learned her brother had become part of Team Avatar.  He hadn’t even mastered airbending yet, what right did he have running into danger like that?  Katara seemed to sense her moods and teased her about being overprotective and asked Aita what Sota would think of Aita’s ‘battle wounds’.  Then the old woman led her into her room and healed the minor bruises and scrapes.  Aita didn’t protest.  The healings felt so much different than her own mother’s.  Aita’s mother would strain and push and force each healing.  Even little bruises could be difficult for her. 

“Thanks,” she said, pulling back her leg and rolling down her pants.  Water healing always left the eqaulist feeling weird.  All the surface water gets pulled away.  It’s a refreshing feeling, and almost a little itchy under the cool memory of the skin.

“You seem tense,” said Katara, shifting around and balancing.  Aita quickly stood and helped support the old woman as she stood.

“I have mixed feelings about healings,” said Aita.  Katara raised one eyebrow and Aita blushed and cursed herself.  The old waterbender had probably thought the nervousness came from the night before. “I don’t want to talk about it.  Sota will tell you if he’s feeling chatty.”

Katara opened her mouth, but thankfully a bell sounded. Probably calling together everyone to a late breakfast.  Aita hadn’t heard a bell rung before. 

“We should eat before we starve,” said Katara.  Aita offered her arm with a smile.  The old woman took it and they walked together to the dining area.  Aita was a little surprised the old woman didn’t try to talk her ear off.  Bethai certainly liked to talk.  Her stepfather’s mother was constantly nagging at her son.  At the very least, Aita expected Katara to talk about her adventures with her past husband, or to try and guide Aita into a conversation so she could ‘get to know her granddaughter better’.  Instead there was a tense silence only broken by the slight huffs and hums of the old woman.  Aita found herself slowly relaxing and just breathing in the morning air.  It was nice, quiet, serene. 

And then she walked into the dining room where a small hurricane seemed to be brewing.  She left the avatar to held the old woman sit, and Aita sat next to her brother, taking the cup of coffee he gave her and inhaling it.  The equalist looked around the table.  Everyone looked a little tired.  There were signs of recent healings, on  Mako and Asami, but they would fade soon, it had already been a couple of hours.  And while the energy was up; it was one tense and fraught with the irritation and buzzing of people on high alert while operating with very little sleep.  Everyone was either drinking coffee or tea. 

“When is she going to show up?” demanded Korra.  Aita jumped and then looked around the table.  The ex-chief was missing.  That was interesting.  And potentially useful.  Maybe the woman had been captured by one of the equalists.  That would be useful.  It would definitely weaken ‘Team Avatar’.  Moral in the benders would go down. 

And then the ex-chief walked through the door and shattered Aita’s daydream.  The woman was followed by two men.  The current chief of the metalbending police, a man Aita hadn’t, for one reason or another, memorized the name of.  And a young man who at most was in his mid twenties. 

“Saikhan, it’s good to see you,” said Tenzin before he turned to his children. “Why don’t all of you go out and play?”

“But dad,” said Jinora, but her little brother had already yelling in delight and propelling himself over the table and through the door.  Pema gripped her oldest shoulder and pushed her, while also balancing Rohan in her arms.  She sent Tenzin a nasty look and then left the room with her children.  Aita continued to eat slowly, keeping her eyes down on her bowl and wondering if she too was about to be thrown out.  But no one turned toward her, all eyes were on their new guests as the men sat down on the vacant seats left by the children.

“Do you trust everyone here?” asked the chief, his eyes resting on Asami a second too long, though they also looked over Sota, Aita, and even Katara speculatively.

“This is my mother Katara.  My nephew and airbender Sota, and my old student Aita who is currently teaching the avatar how to reach out to the Spirit World,” said Tenzin. Saikhan seemed to take this in and then with a sigh, he shook his head and took a stack of folders from his bag and threw them in the middle of the table. 

“What are these?” asked Tenzin.  He was the only one to reach for one of the folders.  The rest sat at the table and looked on at the folder as if afraid what could be found in them.  He raised his eyebrows. “Why give us these now?”

“What are they?” asked Katara, snatching one up.  Everyone followed suite.  Aita gasped when she opened hers.  Thankfully, the gasp was misinterpreted, her picture was rather vivid, but also unmistakenably Gir. 

“Last night we had our own operation running,” said Saikhan gruffly. “It was small but important.”

“We didn’t interrupt it?” asked Asami.

“No,” said the young man with a grin. “The botch up was all my doing.”

He looked very cheerful about that fact.  Aita glared at him, letting her folder fall down over her food, though also trying to read and retain as much information as she could.  It was important to know just how much the police had learned about their organization and the people who ran it.  Aita wished she’d gotten someone else.  Gir’s entire life revolved around the equalists and his time as a soldier.  Really all she needed to do was check to make sure there was a question mark beside his base of operations.  Still, the profile was exact. They knew his real name, his birth place, his home life, his grades; they even had a physiological profile on the man. 

“This is Menlock, our infiltration and removal expert in the force,” said Saikhan gesturing to the young man. The young man’s smile widened and he picked up some of the leftover food and popped it into his mouth. 

“Yeah, I’m very good removal, getting operatives out of tight spots, removing sensitive information from the cities enemies, and unwanted nuances,” said Menlock.  The other’s looked at him in confusion, but Aita was struck with his true meaning in that instant.

“You tried to assassinate Amon last night,” she said breathily.  Menlock’s eyes fixed on hers and Aita gulped.  She was frozen.  How could she explain?  She shouldn’t have let her mouth get away from her like that.

“You’re Aita right?” asked Saikhan. Aita tore her eyes from the assassin to look at the chief of police. “The little girl who was stuck in the Spirit World.  I heard you could do readings.”

“Yes,” Aita croaked.  She quickly took a sip of her tea and tried to calm her nerves. She was only partially lying anyway.  She might have seen what Menlock had done if she reached out. “Usually the only thing people are interested is the future.  But I can see spirits everywhere and learn their secrets if I listen right.  It’s hard to filter everything from the Spirit World, especially here.”

“What else can you tell us about Amon?” asked Menlock, leaning toward her.

“Nothing, he isn’t spiritual enough for the spirits to learn anything concrete enough, and if there are any, then I haven’t come across them,” said Aita.

“Then how’d you know?” asked Menlock.

“You’re spiritual,” Aita said plainly, her hand lifting to her neck.  Menlock mirrored her movement, his hand coming up and going through what Aita could only all a color eel, though the description lacked.  Menlock then snorted and looked away from her, grabbing at the food and tearing at it as he did.  Aita sighed.  The color eel really didn’t mean anything, but it had given her something ‘real’ to blame.  In the room filled with cops who were trained to see the truth, having some grain of truth to fall on was only a good thing. 

“Are you sure you trust everyone in this room?” asked Saikhan.  Tenzin turned to Aita, and the equalist found herself tensing.

“Are you sure you want to become involved?” asked Tenzin. “I know you wanted to keep as removed as you could considering the circumstances.”

Aita pretended to think about it. “I think it’s time I took a real stand.  Plus, I’m able.  I’ll even stay here if I have to.  It’ll teach me better control.”

“We’re ready, though perhaps a better explanation of what happened last night is needed.  I would like to know why your resources were stretched so thin Saikham,” said Tenzin.  Both Saiken and Bei Fong sighed.

“They asked for my help,” said Bei Fong, redirecting the conversation to her. “We have someone in that can track Amon’s movements to a certain amount accuracy.  Everyone follows a certain pattern, and we were able to predict where he would be that night, and even got confirmation from our intel.  Then we sent Menlock in.”

“I got pretty close to,” said Menlock lazily. “Snuck in through the window, got up to the bed, and then that Spirit nearly gutted me and then was able to chase me in her nightclothes all the way back to the police station.”

“That’s why we didn’t end up sending most of the last backup to help with the rally.  Getting our hands on Spirit would have been a real victory for our side, especially if she’s Amon’s lover,” said Saikham.  There was a slight shift at this comment, Bolin looked a little sick.

“Did you get a look at either of their faces?” asked Korra.  Menlock shook his head.

“Fuckers sleep in masks.  I mean, I was standing over them and they were tangled together with masks on and knives apparently hidden under their pillow,” said Menlock.

“Language,” said Tenzin, his attention now on the folder in his hand. “I know this woman.  I knew she was a nonbender sympathizer, but I thought it was proven that she wasn’t involved.”

“Just because we couldn’t prove anything, and what we would prove she had her lawyers spin it so that we were working against our own laws,” said Bei Fong and then gave Tenzin a sheepish smile. “Sorry Tenzin, I just didn’t want you to worry.  And there are more dangerous people working directly under Amon than Bethai.  All you need to know is she’s in charge of his image.  She recruits the criers around town the tout about Amon’s message.  She does other small jobs, we believe she also proofreads his speeches, but she’s small fry, and old.  Her apprentice is hopeless, and his image will suffer once she’s gone.”

Aita stored that information away.  Bethai didn’t whine like Mr. Sato or Rebc when Amon told her that she needed guards.  The old woman probably wouldn’t mind increased security as long as it didn’t interfere with her work. 

“I’ll give you the important information right now.  Most of that is for the file, a lot of it is superfluous, but circle the folders so everyone can at least recognize them if they have to,” said Bei Fong.  Everyone passed on their folders as if on cue and Aita found herself looking at the picture of a very blurry unmasked Luco. “Another small player, but important in some ways, is Rebc.  She’s his financer, keeps his financial ties and supporters and supplies this side of legal and hidden as best she can.  A sharp minded business woman bit of a temper but no real training in any martial art.  Now for the more involved side.  Amon has working under him Gir.  An old army veteran.  Very good at extracting information from people and even changing them.  He’s now using what he learned during his time serving the army to torture our people.  Rat, well, we don’t even know if the dark picture we got of her is the real spy master or just stand in for the real one.  We know nothing about her.  We haven’t even gotten a picture of her without that equalist mask on her.  You already know Mr. Sato, one of his former financers and now his top inventor whose main choice of weaponry is the mechatanks.  We believe Amon also has a top engineer, but we know even less about them then we do about Rat.

“Then there’s Orlang, a nonbending healer.  She’s still got her practice running, but at night she tends to equalists.  Usually working out of Amon’s key places of operation.  Dou, he took over training the core fighters of Amon’s army after Sensu was removed.  He’s young and fights primarily with batons.  Luco is Amon’s strategist and helps head attacks when both Lee and Spirit are unavailable.  We know next to nothing about his past and he tends to use gloves and chiblocking when he’s involved in a fight.  Then there’s Lee Ping, Amon’s lieutenant and his most valuable adviser after Spirit.  He’s interesting.  He is married to a young earthbender and has an earthbending child,” Aita gasped.  When had they found this out?  Was Lee in trouble? Had he been arrested or were the metalbending cops just biding their time before they hauled him off the streets?

“What?” demanded Sota. “But he’s Miss Ping’s husband.”

“I’m sorry,” said Bei Fong looking at Sota.  Sota huffed, looking lost and then he collapsed down.  Aita, took his hand and Sota drew her into a hug. “Don’t worry. We removed both mother and child from that situation, but Lee hasn’t attempted to return home, and we think he might have learned that we know.”

Saikham snorted and Aita got the idea he had wanted to use them as bait, or to wait until Lee got home and captured him before he took Miss Ping somewhere safe.  Aita glared at him but then gave Bei Fong a thankful smile.  She was mostly grateful that Lee was still safe.  But that was easy enough to tell.

“Yes, well, his preferred weapon is electrified batons and he tends to lead Amon’s troops.  Then there’s Spirit herself. Amon’s lover, but also his active face.  While Amon runs everything, she’s out doing the dirty work.  She’s been reported stealing sensitive information from various places including the justice building.  She leads Amon’s troops either with Lee or by herself on stealth missions.  She’s the one who assassinated the three benders and it is believed she’s carried out other assassination throughout the years.  It’s also hinted that Amon taught her how to remove bending and that she’s now trying to see if she can remove the corrupted bending ability from those rooted and that’s why her more aggressive movements have died down the last few days,” said Bei Fong.

“Is there any reason she might have saved me?” asked Korra.  Bei Fong shook her head.

“The best guess I have is that Amon commanded her to.  He wants to take you out on his terms after all,” said Bei Fong. “Her preferred fighting style is a combination of bender forms and chiblocking, though she also employs rope and knives on occasion.  And of course there’s Amon himself.  You know as much about him as we do.  His past is questionable, the little that he has told his audience.  He’s an accomplished speaker and chibloker and has the ability to remove a person’s bending from them.”

“If we could, we’d like to see if we can capture Dou, Luco, Lee, or Spirit.  They’re the most active and the one’s who will most likely know the most about Amon and his plans.  Most of the equalist we do capture refuse to talk or know only so much information.  These are key players in Amon forces,” said Saikham.

“And the rest?”

“If we can damn them or catch them red-handed, or find them, in Rats, Mr. Sato, or Gir’s cases and take them out of the game, then that would be a blow against Amon.  But the others, we have methods to get them to talk.  The council will frown on them,” said Saikham looking at Tenzin. “But with these people I think they might find a different tune.  Spirit especially is ruthless and ready to go to extremes to achieve bringing about Amon’s vision.”

Tenzin sighed. “We will do what we must.  But is it worth it if we become monsters ourselves?”

“The lower level police will probably be showing up about now,” said Menlock with a sigh.  Everyone turned to him and then Tenzin stood, straightened his clothes and walked quickly out the door.  Saikham and Menlock got up to follow him and everyone else quickly ate what was left of their food.  Sota ended up helping Katara up.  The old woman had a deep frown on her face.  Aita gathered up all the folders.  She didn’t think that they were meant to just be lying around like they were at the moment. 

When she got outside there was a bit of grandstanding going on.  Aita recognized the firebending police embalm on five of them, including her father.  The other newcomers were wearing what Aita thought was the waterbending cops from the west district.  In the poorer districts the main force keeping people inline weren’t metalbending cops, but other benders who, because they couldn’t bend metal, fell to the other districts.  They got shit funding and half the time metalbending cops had to be called in when big crimes were committed, simply because they didn’t have the resources or people to control the situation.  Aita knew about all of the shortcomings thanks to her stepfather.  On some nights his violence was directed at his frustration with them and unfairness of it.  Aita’s stepfather had always wanted to be a police officer, he talked about his dreams of helping people when he grew up, of getting the bad guys and stopping unrest.  But because he was a firebender, he ended up at a dead end and underpaid job.  Aita wondered when he’d forgotten his dream had morphed into one that included days drunk off his ass and abusive toward his stepchildren.

“What are you doing with those?” Aita jumped a little and turned to face Menlock.  She stared at him for a few seconds, leaning back since he was standing a little too close for comfort for her.  She then held out the folders to him.

“I didn’t think that these should just be left on the table,” said Aita.

“Very astute of you,” said Menlock dryly. “You don’t like me much. Why?”

“What makes you think I don’t like you?” asked Aita.

“Just call it a hunch,” said Menlock. “And you still didn’t tell me why.  Is it because I tried to kill Amon?”

“Now I don’t like you,” said Aita, her smile dropping from her face.  While it was true that she wouldn’t want to associate with Menlock for obvious reasons, she hadn’t really cared before this.  He was out to kill or capture her.  She was out to take down the government that he worked for.  It wasn’t personal to her because it wasn’t personal to him.  Now however, he was acting like a prick, and Aita had no problem disliking people based on their personalities.  And if he was going to confront her over it than she’d be happy to go to blows with him.  As Spirit, as Aita she would lose horribly and cry to her uncle. 

It was very useful having someone famous related to her.  Aita really should have tried to exploit this gap earlier instead of shoving it into the depths of her mind and trying to forget about it.  At that moment she couldn’t even remember why she had wanted to keep it secret. 

“What’s going on?” asked Saikham.  Aita glanced over had the man.  Menlock just fell back on his heels and smiled.

“I think she’s an equalist,” said Menlock and only quick reflexes keep him from being blasted back into the house as Sota seems to appear out of nowhere, first throwing a gale of wind at the man and then tackling him with a butchered war cry.  Aita finds her anger simmering away.  She wouldn’t have attacked Menlock, but she wasn’t sure she could actually cry.  No one would buy it for one, and she’d rather not seem like a blatant tattle tale.  But she also wanted to get them off calling her an equalist.  Aita had always seen the cops as dimwitted, even the ex-chief.  She thought they were the same as the people in her father’s force.  Brutal, obeying the law but twisting it where they wanted, and easily outmaneuvered if you knew the city well enough.  Saikham she had thought would be a complete idiot.  Just someone who reported to Tarlock and did whatever the former waterbender told him to do.  But the more Aita got to hear and observe Saikham, the more she wondered if he actually had a mind of his own, and the reason Tarlock had chosen the man was because Saikham had similar views on how to deal with the Revolution. 

Korra walked over and Aita saw the others following her and quickly averts her eyes so she can’t see her stepfather.  She never wanted to see the man again.  Sota might think that family was important, be the one to say they owe their stepfather something for helping to raise them and not throw them on the streets because they weren’t his.  Aita doesn’t agree.  She can’t see her stepfather and be grateful, because she doesn’t see the good he does.  All she remembers is first waking to a weird world where someone was missing and everyone wore orange and then taken somewhere and called useless and beaten.  At first Sota shielded her, but he wasn’t mentally strong enough.  He started to believe the lies he told his teachers and friends about where he got the burns even when they didn’t believe him.

So Aita started the taking brunt of it.  Sota had yelled at her the first few times until Aita cried and told him it was the only way she felt like she was being any use.  She lied and said that she didn’t feel it when he hurt her because she could detach herself and put her physical pain to the side of her mind.  That her connection to the Spirit World let her do that.  Later he figured out she couldn’t, Sota wasn’t stupid, but he stopped insisting that Aita take the brunt of the moods their stepfather got in.  It became a game of wits, who could get the other out of trouble, usually Aita won, but sometimes she’d come back from helping her mother with her half brothers and sisters to find Sota beaten and bleeding and sit next to her mother, looking down at where the new scars would appear and looking over the old ones that Aita hadn’t been mentally present enough to stop.

Aita couldn’t look at her stepfather and see a caretaker.  She couldn’t even look at her mother in that light, and her half brothers and sisters were practically strangers all that they slept in the same room and ate meals together.  No, her stepfather was a monster and her mother dismissive and neglectful.  Aita hated them both.  She looked at her mother and saw her as weak and bigoted, the only time she had said anything against their abuse was when she learned Sota was a bender.  And Aita’s stepfather, well, whatever she owed him had been paid off tenfold while she worked the shop.  It had only felt like she’d started to get used to the world when he’d bought that place, given the twins some money and told them to run the place.  Aita was surprised it had worked, she didn’t even know how they got it started, just that it had begun as an odds and ends store.  But now it was a kids shop with a decent success rate.  All thanks to her and Sota who worked hard only for pocket change and would never see any of the profit again. 

So no.  Aita did not like her stepfather.  Maybe Sota knew something, had seen something in their stepfather that made him think the man was better than he actually was.  Or maybe Aita was just so used to hating him that she couldn’t stop.  The truth was, at the end of it all, was that when she looked at him, she saw the reason she was an equalist.  She saw it in his expression, his temper, his drinking, his manner, his love, and his obsession.  He was why equalists existed, and in his shortcomings as a bender, she had always seen them reflected in his colleagues and how they laughed and overlooked the children of their friend simply because they weren’t benders like the rest of their family. 

Aita sneezed and backed up into someone a good deal taller than her.  She blushed and practically sprinted away from her stepfather.  He was giving her a rather odd look.

“We’re going to make you fruit tea and sit with you lady,” said Meelo, grabbing Aita’s hands and then trying to climb on her.  Aita tried to push him away.  Quiet children were alright, even eager ones, but ones like Meelo were the ones who crashed over shelves at the shop and gave Aita both a headache and more work. 

“Where the hell did you go?” asked Menlock, Aita noticed he was holding onto his wrist as if it hurt and her brother was being restrained by both Mako and Bolin a good deal away from the cop’s assassin. 

“She’s rooted in the Spirit World and she needs to keep a certain level of peace of mind to stay here,” snapped Tenzin and then straightened. “It would be ridiculous to believe she was an equalist.  I’ve never met someone more dedicated to their siblings and the conflicting emotions of both supporting the equalist and caring about her brother would have sent her back into the Spirit World years ago.”

If Menlock disagreed with Tenzin, he wisely kept his mouth shut.  A couple of the cops were looking at Aita curiously, and Aita found herself squirming and instinctively drifting toward her brother.

“No, lady, you have to have tea and sit,” said the little devil boy.

“I’m sure Sota needs to do that too,” said their stepfather, causing Aita to pay attention to the man again. “Meditation is important for benders.”

Meditation was probably something her stepfather had probably not put a lot of work into. 

“We all should,” said Katara. “Come on children.  I know Tenzin has a certain way to enter meditation, but I want to give a little tip to those who might be having some trouble with meditating.”

Katara looked pointedly at Korra.  The avatar blushed and all the ‘children’ followed the old woman and Tenzin’s kids back into the house.  Jinora made an interesting squeaking noise when she realized she needed to put on more water and quickly ran to the stove, taking the scolding from her grandmother in stride and looking pleased when she was able to fill every cup with water.

“I hate this stuff,” grumbled Aita, staring down at the sweet smelling concoction.  Jinora turned to give her big sad eyes, but Aita ignored her in favor of glaring at the fruity tea.

“Come on Aita.  You’re supposed to compliment the host for making you such splendid tea,” said Sota, quickly gulping down his tea.  Aita watched him, wondering how her brother hadn’t scorched both his tongue and his throat doing that.  She hadn’t even seen him blow on it once to cool it off. 

“I’m not in the mood to be polite,” said Aita. And since she was rooted, it had always been a perk that she didn’t have to be polite.  Katara cackled and the others chuckled and even Jinora seemed to loosen up. “I am sorry about spacing out.”

“Well, if my son is right, then with the stress from last night and this morning probably did you in,” mussed Katara.

“What?” asked Sota, quickly turning on his sister.  Aita cursed the old woman under her breath while taking another sip of the tea. “You were near the rally last night?”

“I was heading home some time after the stampede happened.  Nothing bad happened, but we don’t live in the best neighborhood,” said Aita.

“You don’t look too bad,” said Sota and then his eyes narrowed. “Gran-gran healed you didn’t she?” he demanded.

“It wasn’t bad.  Just a few bumps and scrapes and a twisted ankle,” said Aita with a shrug.

“I don’t like you out so late, especially now that all this is happening.  Can’t you and your boyfriend stay in?” asked Sota.

“Do you think before you open your mouth?” asked Aita.  Sota glared at her, though he still didn’t seem to understand the implications.

“We’re supposed to be calming you down,” said Katara. “I’d hate to lose my granddaughter to the Spirit World before I got to know her.”

Aita smiled. “I don’t get caught anymore.  I just slipup and have to drag myself back out.  A little bit of a nuance, but it only really happens here.  I think it’s been happening more often because now I’m purposely trying to reach it with the avatar, and this place is just so close to the Spirit World…”

“You can join us,” said Korra.  “That’ll get your mind off all of this.  You can fight, right?  Sota said something about you being better than him.”

“At bending forms,” Aita pointed out. “But that’d only be good against people who can’t fight.  I’m not like your Spirit.  I don’t know chiblocking, and it hasn’t been around long enough for the spirits to have picked it up.  Even if it had, I couldn’t learn them the same way.  Chiblocking is human, not spiritual, well, not in the same way bending is.”

Aita shrugged and finished her tea.

“Plus, Aita is trying to relax.  As are all of us,” said Katara. “Perhaps we’ll work on waterbending once we’re done.  My father taught both my brother and I how to fight, even after the war.  With chiblocking becoming so popular dad thought it best I learn to fight without relying on my bending.  Never got a good handle on it though.”

“And my self-defense teacher always wore water tribe themed clothing, I bet my use of self-defense is based on waterbending,” said Asasmi. “Do you know waterbending forms?”

“Some,” Aita admitted.  She smiled when her brother glared at her. “I was supposed to be a waterbender, and I was bored.”

“Bored?” asked Mako.

“They used to take me away for an hour at school to teach me, whatever the hell rooted people get as therapy to try and at least help them be a little self-sufficient.  My handler was a spaz and lazy.  She’d just leave in the room all by myself.  How else do you think I had enough time to learn airbending forms?” asked Aita. “As long as Menlock doesn’t bother us, than it sounds like fun.  And maybe we’ll get off this island more.”

Everyone laughed, though Korra was the only one who seemed particularly disturbed when Aita mentioned Menlock.  Aita wasn’t sure what to think.  The other girl hadn’t seemed to affected that morning, but Aita hadn’t really been paying attention to the avatar when the assassin admitted who he was.  Aita hadn’t thought that Korra would have a real problem with Menlock.  Maybe she would have a problem with his methods, but in history, not even the avatar had been below doing something or allying themselves with someone of a dubious in order to do what had to be done.

But Korra looked genuinely perturbed by just the mention of Menlock, not only that, she was taking Aita’s side.  She hadn’t done that before, Aita had thought it was because Korra knew Aita better now.  They might not be friends, but Aita did try and mentor Korra, and Korra didn’t know Menlock. 

But now, Aita wondered if Korra might not like him because of what he was.  She probably disliked the way he fought.  While Aita would have guessed before that Korra was violent, just a girl who liked throwing her weight around like every other overly powerful bender.  But while Korra might be rough and tumble, the thing to remember was that she was brash and in your face.  Korra wasn’t one for subtly, for keeping to the shadows when everyone else was scared.  There was a chance, that she hated that kind of reaction in everyone. 

That might pose a problem or an asset to Aita.  Certainly it would keep Korra from being friends with Menlock, and Aita was glad for that, they hardly needed the avatar adding an assassin to her merry group.  But what did Korra think of Spirit.  The girl certainly hadn’t had a good opinion of her, what with Spirit trying to assassinate Tenzin, but Korra had obviously been thrown when Aita had saved her instead.  But now that she knew about Spirit, what did the avatar think.  Spirit was a spy, an assassin, and a thief.  She was more deadly by the fact she could lead Amon’s troupes and had the ability to take bending.  But was she also seen as Amon’s weakness?  She was female after all, and steadily she was becoming as much a symbol as Amon.  She was also ten times easier to kill or capture and she was Amon’s lover.  Either Amon would falter at her death or capture, or some of his followers would see him as callous for leaving her in the hands of the enemy.

But what would it mean if everyone knew who she was>  Amon would lose so much of his mystery and appeal without his mask.  Not all of it.  Amon had admitted that outside his mask, for various reasons, no one would be able to place him.  Anyone who could have given any substantial help had long since been taken care of.  No one asked why.  Bethai had glared at Amon for a full minute before she nodded her head sharply and changed the subject. Still, Amon wasn’t a bender, he said he had family, hinted at it really, but that they had never been family to him.  His story about being a farmer might be suspect, but his hatred of benders, his hatred of family who were benders, was real.  

Aita couldn’t imagine hating her brother with that same intensity.  She still hoped to save him.  Maybe he’d have to be locked up, but she wanted him safe.  She wanted to take his bending and lock him up somewhere safe and sound.  But she couldn’t.  If anything made her want to rip off her mask it was the good it could do her brother.  He was part of team avatar, and Aita couldn’t protect him anymore.  But if she told someone, maybe just Amon. 

But then her allusion would fail.  She might have given away some of her past, but it was any nonbenders story.  Republic City was notorious for its overabundance of benders; it encouraged benders into its walls.  But there were nonbenders, there always had to be nonbenders.  Most nonbenders had at least one of two benders in their family, even if it was just an aunt or uncle.  A lot of those nonbenders, especially ones with close relatives, were abused.  Maybe not like Aita, but Aita had met plenty who received less attention to the degree that they had practically raised themselves.

Aita wasn’t perfect.  She wasn’t like Amon who was obscure, and even if he wasn’t, he probably wouldn’t be condemned for his family like Aita would be.  Aita wasn’t some perfect symbol.  Her twin was a bender, and anyone who had seen them together knew that either twin would give their lives to each other.  Amon was known for his ‘if you’re not with him you’re against him’ speech.  Aita would never be able to apply that to Sota.  On top of that, Aita wasn’t just related to benders, she was the direct descendent of the last avatar, his granddaughter.  Add to it the fact that she wasn’t a proper nonbender.  She was rooted.  Would it matter that she hated being rooted?  Or would the fact that she was supposed to be a bender, that she got vision from the Spirit World something that would work against their cause?

Would Amon trust her if he knew about her?

Aita shook her head as she brought herself back to the present.  Everyone else was slowly getting up.  Stretching from the mediation and Korra was talking about how waterbending forms were good for anyone to learn, even people who bended other elements.  Aita accepted Sota’s help up.  She’d worry about all these questions later. When she was exposed she would deal with the headache, no matter how it turned out she was caught, but for now she needed that mask.  She had an important job.  She couldn’t stop this spy mission over this.  Her information was too valuable to waste on these what-ifs.

So Aita smiled and asked Asasmi about learning to defend herself.  Bolin was crooning something happily, and Katara even let the children join in on their training.  Aita got caught up in the lesson.  If was odd, learning a form so close to waterbending, but so different.  But it would work for Aita.  And hell, after this was all done, maybe it would be of some use to Spirit. 


	13. Child's Design

“Get Rat,” said Aita.  She had stopped on the way at a safe house and told one of the half-masked equalists this an hour ago, but on reflection, this might not have been the best way to go about it.  The young woman had looked stunned, her brown eyes wide, and under her cloth mask Aita could practically see the equalists mouth gaping.  The stupid woman probably hadn’t known where to start getting in contact with Rat.  Hell, she probably hadn’t known who Rat was.

Aita cursed Amon’s decision to keep her in the dark about where he was staying that night.  Aita had no idea where to find him or anyone else.  All she knew was that someone had finally shown up that knew where Amon was.  The equalist had just cocked his head to the side at her demand and disappeared into the shadows.  Aita glanced up to where the rooted group had gone back up to their teacher.  Nothing interesting had happened that night.  Aita had just continued to briefly free their minds while hoping that the repetition would inspire a new idea, or that the spirits would get sick of her continuous tried and at least push her in the right direction.  Mostly Aita was just glad to see that Bethai had chosen well and that none of the families had to be ‘taken care of’.  Or anything similar.

The passageways were empty.  Not that the underground had ever been particularly crowded unless something was happening, but even the hidden guards were spread thin as possible.  Aita looked around, staying close to her guide and one hand on her knife.  There was a chance that this was a trap.  Aita didn’t recognize the equalist, but in the equalist uniform it was sometimes hard to tell men from women at just a glance, and this one hadn’t said a word to her.  Still, Aita was probably just being paranoid.  Though she did wonder who he was bringing her to. 

Aita let out a small breath as noise started to slowly fill the air.  It was a little ways from where they were walking, but they were headed in the right direction.  Amon had mentioned something about another weapon for nonbenders.  This time it would actually be deadly.  Aita hadn’t been sure about that, but she had been ruled out by even Bethai.  So Aita just thought she was missing something that was obvious to the others. 

She took out her knife and started playing with it, letting the blade flip back and forth, in and out.  The equalist looked at her nervously, but still didn’t say a word.  Aita huffed, but didn’t put away her knife.  She also had a length of thick rope and her poison hair pieces.  Aita still hadn’t figured out how to add that to her outfit.  Maybe she’d hide them in plain sight and make them into earrings.  They’d be heavy, but at least then she’d have something substantial to fight with.  Plus, it would make Rat happy.  Aita was sure it was Rat who kept leaving her the hair sticks and gloves for the last two days.

When they arrived at the factory everything looked normal.  Mr. Sato was right upfront yelling at some poor equalist who didn’t look particularly affected, then again her expression was hidden by the gas mask.  Aita quickly looked up.  Amon liked to hover like a bird when he oversaw construction.  He thought his presence would inspire the equalist under his command.  Aita always thought that it might intimidate most people, but what did she know? 

“Amon,” she shouted.  Rat wasn’t anywhere in sight, but she wasn’t the one she had to check in with.  The only thing that had been keeping her in any semblance of calm was the fact that Amon might know exactly how much the cops knew about their organization, that might be why Lee had disappeared.

Aita quickly started to climb up to Amon’s resting place.  The equalist watched her for a second, glanced at the stairs five feet to the right, and then turned away. 

“That equalist really looks up to you,” said Amon as Aita through herself on the railing. “You could have at least used your grappling equipment.  Styles tweaked the design just for you.”

“He should be happy I’m finally using them,” said Aita and then sighed. “I haven’t seen him since we went ‘public’.  He’s horribly obvious.”

“I’ve seen him.  He seems happy for us,” said Amon, touching her lightly on the bun.  Aita giggled and leaned in to whisper in Amon’s ear.

“I’ve got potentially sensitive information,” she said and then leaned back enough to do a flip onto the banner.  Her legs up over her head.

“Well then, my room is it?” Amon asked.  Aita flipped herself off the railing and Amon graciously helped her to straighten up.  Amon led her away and Aita flounced next to him, grabbing Tozen who had appeared behind them. 

“What is it Spirit?” asked Tozen when they were almost to Amon’s room. 

“Just wanted to check in on some things.  Like if Amon knew about the files on us and exactly how much information the cops are supposed to have.  Since none of you are panicking, I’m guessing Lee hasn’t been captured yet, so I thought we might have one in the clerks,” said Aita. “But I wanted to make sure.”

“Lee is trying to see if the cops had arrested… We thought they might have figured it out since the charge on her was suspect.  Lee said his wife would never be caught past curfew outside, especially if there was a ruckus outside,” said Amon. “You’re saying that there was more to it.”

“How much trouble are we in?” asked Tozen, opening the door and quickly closing it when they got in.

“They got files.  Let’s see.  They’re only missing that engineer who helped design the airships, Tozen, and Styles,” said Aita, sitting back on the desk, resting her legs on Amon’s lap when he sat down. “They don’t know who Amon, Rat, Luco, and I are.  And they don’t know where those of us who live inside the organization stay.  But they know everything else.  They know Orlang nightlights as our chief physician.  They know about Bethai and Rebc, though they see them as small fries.  They have background checks, current jobs, favorite weapons, known places of residents, and pscological profiles of all things.  Worse, they gave them our faces to the avatar and her friends.  Fine for us, but for Orlang and the ones who work more in the light…”

“We have a mole,” said Tozen. “Not a fighter though, or they’d know about me.  Not a technician or they’d know about Eith.”

“They know about her. Well, they know she exists, but they seem more focused on Mr. Sato,” said Aita with a shrug.

“Most people miss Styles.  That just means they aren’t part of his crew,” said Amon. “Are they going to attack us tonight?”

“No,” said Aita.

“Still, they might be planning something and not telling you,” said Tozen. Aita nodded.  She couldn’t ignore how many law enforcers found her suspicious.  And now the lower level police had been brought in to help get rid of Amon.  Probably not told them everything they knew.  But definitely given some names and faces, activities, they had to keep an eye on.

“They brought in everyone.  The lower police were at the temple, and so was our assassin,” said Aita turning to speak directly to Amon. “He didn’t like me.”

“Does he suspect you?” asked Amon.

“Of being at least an equalist sympathist, yes.  But definitely not of being Spirit.  They were quite suggestive of what would happen if they caught me,” said Aita.

“It could have been to put you off guard,” said Tozen.  Aita shook her head.

“They want their spy safe.  The chief made it very clear he only wanted those people Tenzin trusted to remain in the room while he debriefed Team Avatar,” said Aita. “The chief didn’t mind me.  Just the assassin was suspicious, but he’s a bit of an ass so I don’t think anyone really took him seriously.”

“Tenzin trusts you that much?” asked Tozen.  Aita smiled, leaning back and almost wishing the new chi blocking teacher could see her smile. 

“I told Amon that I had an in,” said Aita. “It’s very secure, until the moment I make a mistake.”

“And then there’s a good chance you’ll be dead,” said Amon.  Aita blinked and looked over at Amon in surprise.  Amon almost sounded angry. “You made it sound like your in was circumstantial.  Not that you could…”

“You’re angry.  I told you that it would be dangerous for me, even if I had an in,” said Aita.

“I thought it was because they already suspected that you were an equalist already, not that you were so close that they would…”

Aita just stared at Amon.

“Would that be better?” she asked carefully.  Then she looked away and bit her lip, trying to work out why he was so angry.  Had he figured it out?  Had Rat told him enough that he knew who she was?  Or had he gotten it completely wrong? “I swear, I’m not a bender.  If I was I would have removed my own bending or asked you to.”

“I don’t think you’re a bender,” said Amon, almost sounding breathless.  Aita drew away from him, curling on the desk. Amon stared at her through his mask.

“We should go retrieve Lee and tell him his cover is blown.  We should also start making plans to increase security for the ones in the spotlight, so to speak,” said Tozen.  Aita nodded and lifted her head a little.

“We can’t take them out, and Orlang won’t leave her practice,” said Aita tightly.

“We’ll make it work.  We can’t lose any of them,” said Amon.

“They hinted at assassins.  Bethai seemed to be most at risk,” said Aita, though her voice was shaky. Tozen nodded and stood.  He paused before he left the room.

“I’ll expect your help in an hour,” said the teacher before he left.  Amon and Aita sat as if frozen.  Then Aita sighed and stood, she should start on her own part of this operation.  She had to get to the spy, and she had a Rat to track down.  Amon would explain to Tozen what Aita had to do. 

Amon caught her around the waist before she could leave.  His fingers touched the underside of her mask and Aita pulled away.  Amon didn’t trust her.  Her body was tense with anger and she tried to strike out, but he caught her arm as she swung at him and twisted it behind her back.

“You should only do it for the right reasons,” she hissed angrily.  Amon brought his hand up and ran the back of his hand along the side of her mask.  He leaned in and touched their foreheads together.

“Trust me,” he whispered.  Aita stared up through her mask, not breaking eye contact with Amon’s own dark eyes.  Finally she sighed and closed her eyes, her body sagging, and Amon letting go of her arm.  Amon removed her mask and it fell with a small bounce to the ground.  Aita could hear it, that smack.  Amon’s fingers ran across her skin, and Aita felt her breath hitch and a small sob escape her lips, while tears fell down her face.  He finally knew.  Oh, avatar, he finally knew who she was.  He leaned in close, his breath tickled her ear and Aita knew that at some point he’d also taken off his mask. 

“Trust me,” said Amon.  Aita’s breath hitched again and her fingers slowly lifted.  She took off the gloves Rat had given her and let them fall to the ground.  And then she ran her hands up Amon’s bare face, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. And then she felt it, his eyes were just as tightly sealed as her own.  He hadn’t wanted to see her, not any more than they’d already had showed each other anyway. 

Amon moved closer and kissed her and Aita felt another sob build in her chest.  Then something wet hit her cheek and both of them crashed to the ground, completely tangled up in the other.  Aita could still see the light fighting to get in between her closed lids, and everything in her was urging her to open her eyes, but some part remembered what she owed Amon.  It remembered their trust and wouldn’t let her break it.  Never break the spell, it whispered, not even to yourself.

So instead, Aita’s tears quickly dried and she started to hush Amon.  He just let out one audible sob and curled tighter into her chest, his legs locking with her, and his fingers digging into her back.  It was uncomfortable.  Her back would bruise and laying on the ground wasn’t good for either of their backs, but Aita knew how to do this.  It was odd, but holding Sota as he sobbed how it wasn’t fair that hurt had helped her. 

She was used to taking care of her brother.  She knew how to physically comfort someone, even if when she tried to talk it usually was in stutters and got jumbled.  Still, she knew how to hold someone, to run her hand down his back and just hushing softly.  Not to be rude, but it always seemed to help Sota catch his tears; sometimes it would make him laugh.

Amon seemed to be either trying to push himself into her, or drag her into him.  He didn’t cry like Sota.  Sota was a messy crier and he talked, a lot.  Mostly he was trying to figure out the situation, and it usually happened after he had been trying to patch Aita up.  He would end up crying; Aita would finish up the wrappings, and then direct him to somewhere he could cry himself out.    Sota had always complained until he ran himself dry and would fall asleep.  But Amon didn’t utter a word, and he was utterly still.  No more sobs or any sound that would indicate he was still upset, except for the fact that he held onto Aita tight enough to leave bruises and that her shirt was slowly getting soaked enough so she could feel it through three layers.

The worse part, Aita had no idea why he was so upset.  It didn’t make any sense to her.  She had been upset about the fact he didn’t trust her and the anxiety about what he would think when he finally found out who she was.  She wasn’t just a nameless face.  If she had been some average girl that became extraordinary by her ties with Amon, that would have been fine.  Hell, she might have encouraged Amon to open his eyes now so that at least they would know each other with no more boundaries.   But Aita, she wasn’t just some random girl, not even to Amon.  He had held her, if only briefly, as something repulsive, as something he couldn’t fix. 

Finally, after what felt like the hour Tozen had given them to talk things out and then make up, Amon pulled away from her.  He pressed Aita’s mask into her hand.  Aita only hesitated a moment before slipping her mask back over her face.  They had things to do.  They should have waited to have this breakdown. 

“I’ll tell Tozen that you have to sleep,” said Amon and Aita shook her head.

“I have a spy to take care of.  Rat should at least have an idea where to start by now,” said Aita calmly.  She’d need to get some wire, just in case. She looked over at Amon, and she could see him glaring through his mask.  The masked girl rolled her eyes. “I don’t like sleeping, been getting too much lately as it is.  Not that I’m really complaining.”

Aita threw her arm around Amon’s head, and drew him down so that with her on her tippy toes she could touch masks with him.

“I’ll see you tonight,” she whispered, and then let go of him so she could she could run over to the window and then throw herself out of it. 

It didn’t take her that long for her to track down Rat.  It never was when the woman wanted to be found.  Rat was looking through her own version of a folder, something Aita had never seen her doing before and she was probably telling Aita that she knew everything that had been reported.

“You want any details?” asked Aita.

“No, she’s too far in.  Bethai is usually very good at recruiting, but I wouldn’t have suspected her if you hadn’t given enough clues,” said Rat.  She handed over the folder and Aita scanned through the contents.  This was a girl from a radical family, her and her brother were the only ones who were a part of the revolution, but all of them actively supported Amon.  Still.

“The numbers of times the police have come to ‘check their house’ seems high, but I don’t know if that warrants suspicion.  What if we’re wrong?” asked Aita.

“She’s one of the few of Bethai’s people who actually sees the equalists in action.  Who has training as a chi blocker, and even met Amon on certain occasions.  Plus, I sent in someone with easy access to the metalbenders station.  They found these letters in a hidden safe,” Rat handed over a couple of grubby papers in neat handwriting. “I had one of my girl’s compare their handwriting.”

Aita lifted one eyebrow and scoffed.  Rat relaxed a little.

“Yeah, I know, but it’s actually effective.  People generally have a very distinct form of writing.  But you can do your own bit of sneaking.  Watch out that nothing’s been planted if you will.  I’d hate to have the wrong girl.  Also, be careful, this might be a setup.  Any hint of the building being monitored and I want you out of there.  Otherwise, have fun.  Make sure to send a message to the rest of our spies in our midst.  I’m also having that earthbender Tozen been watching taken care of,” said Rat.

“When you say make sure to leave a message…” Aita trailed off.  Rat batted her hand in Aita’s direction.

“Don’t be messy about it.  Really, with how squeamish Amon is, it’s surprising he can stand to have Gir under his employ,” said Rat. 

“You think this’ll hurry things up?” asked Aita. Amon didn’t really have a choice did he?  They were now horribly exposed, and he should move forward before the chief could hunt them down.

“No, Amon will see that as working on the enemies time.  He’s got a problem with needing to be in control.  One of his few weaknesses.  See you around Spirit,” said Rat.  Aita bowed and left as Rat faded into the darkness. 

When she got to the stone building that held middle class well to do families, she had already worked herself through the assassination.  She stopped outside of the building and let her mind trail.  A few wisps of spirits were floating high above her head, waiting to come down when the fog came to lay thick on the city.  She breathed in and let a shaky breath out.  There hadn’t been any signs that the place was being monitored, but her eyes tried to pierce through the shadows and darkness. 

The building was easy enough to break into.  Everybody seemed to be a sleep, and the dog they owned only tried to lick Aita when she came in.  The small thing bounced and Aita wasn’t sure what to do with it besides take off its collar and shush it.  She didn’t want to kill it, though she’d done that to a big dog before, and she didn’t want to let outside.  Thankfully, the one bark it had tried made it obvious the family had removed the things voice box so that the little sound it could make was rather pathetic. 

She crept up the stairs and quickly started checking through the rooms.  It looked like the entire extended family took residence in the house.  And it was clear that their sympathies were with Amon.  They even had a couple of the posters with him framed on their walls.  One of the boys had it pinned up among the millions of other posters depicting bands and such in his room.

Aita shook her head and then paused outside one particular room.  She eased the door open.  Even in the dark she could tell the walls were a vibrant pink.  The floor was covered in clothes and stuffed animals.  Aita walked over to the queen sized bed and smiled.  There was her target, a young woman in her early twenties.  Aita wondered briefly if the two young kids two doors down were her sisters or her cousins. 

Aita opened the drawer to her bedside table, finding nothing but a dictionary, pens, tacks, and a miniature stuffed pig chicken.  She checked quickly along the edges and against the grain for a hidden compartment or false bottom.  She then went to the dresser, closest, and then even along the bed.  Aita sighed inaudibly.  She’d rather not reach in between the mattresses looking for papers.  She wasn’t sure she could do it well enough to not make her target wake up. 

A small box caught her eye.  It was just as pink and childish as everything else in the room.  She walked over and easily picked the simple lock.  Inside was a pile of coins.  Aita lifted one eyebrow.  Still, this wasn’t planted, it fit with the room, it was cuddled next to the juvenile books, porcelain dolls, and quickly drawn sketches of flowers and happy boys and girls in ribbons.  Aita carefully reached in, gloved fingers trying to keep the coins from clinking too loudly together.  Aita smiled, yes, a clever little trap.  Easy enough to get around, but if any family members tried to get in the box and got around the lock they’d then have to go through the layers of coins. 

Once Aita had removed all the coins she then felt along the bottom until her finger caught a small looped string.  She pulled up on it and the false bottom was easily removed.  Aita smiled and picked up the pictures underneath.  She walked over to the window and put her back to it, letting the light of the moon shine on her paper.  And there, directions to warehouses and underground facilities.  They were expertly drawn, and done with meticulous precision.  Aita sighed and glanced over at her victim.  She tapped her fingers against her arm and then her eyes flew open and she went to the top of the dresser.  Yes, there, a certificate of some sort.  She had taken classes to be an architect. 

Aita let that wash over her.  This all could be a setup, but like Rat, Aita sometimes let her instinct guide.  Especially in circumstances like this.  It wasn’t so much that the spirits spoke to her, but the woman carried a certain changeability to her.  Her very being seemed ripped and hidden.  Either she was keeping some secret like an aborted child or a hidden sin from her family, or she had changed from the path they had created for her. Aita folded the papers and stored  them in a pocket under first layer of clothes. 

The woman turned, snuffling a little and muttering under her breath.  Aita walked over and placed her knife against her throat.  She studied the body under her for a moment.  The woman’s mouth was opened a bit, a little wet spot of saliva dripping onto her pillow.  She had a softly rounded face with a scattering of scars that probably came from bad acne when she was a teenager.  Her pixie cut brown hair spilled across her pillow, and her breath made the bedspread rise and fall with each intake and exhale.  Aita pulled back hard, blood fell across the bed and she quickly turned the head down toward into the pillow, though she could tell the spirit had already fled.

The bedspread was pulled back and Aita cut the back of the shirt to expose the woman’s back.  Carefully she cut the word ‘traitor’ into the skin and then wiped the knife onto her gloves, took the black gloves, and put them beside the body.  She then went to retrieve the box.  She took out the papers Rat had given her.  The papers had already been in police hands, and the ones Rat had given her only had what were probably preliminary findings.  She then put the box on the ground next to the bed and stomped on it.  The wood was thin and weak enough to first buckle and then break under Aita’s weight.

Aita quickly stored her knife it was a little messy.  Technically she didn’t have to write ‘traitor’ on the woman’s back, the papers would condemn her, and she hadn’t needed to slit her throat when she had poisoned hair accessories, but Rat had said they needed to send a message and Aita could have done a lot worse.

Aita ran and dropped herself out of the window.  She easily landed on the street below.  No one was insight, and no one was screaming up in the building. Not even a light had been turned on.  Aita was impressed.  She would never have been able to sleep with that much noise.  She would have thought that a family who so openly supported Amon would be more on edge, but they were well off, maybe they just weren’t used to being in danger.

Now though, they would probably be in shock.  One of them killed, and none of them had even woken up, had never suspected that anything like this could ever happen to them.  Aita almost felt bad.  Not for the girl, her spirit was off to its next life, but the parents and all those kids.  Would they even see Aita’s message?  Or would they simply see all the blood and miss the papers Aita had left for them to find.

Still, they had to learn.  This was a war, and it had just started for them.  No one could just sit back and wait for the chips to fall, every action, every inaction, could mean death for even the most neutral or supportive citizen. 

Aita slunk back into the shadows.  It was going on midnight, and she had some papers she needed to get to Amon, or maybe Rebc, depended on if they thought the spy had been already feeding information about their base of operations to the chief, or if she was keeping it to herself until she had it all down. 

“Hey Spirit,” said Luco distractedly.  He had two maps in front of him.  One of the city and the other of the undergrounds under the city.  He had little color pins stuck here and there, and he had more rolling in his fingers as he stared at the maps. “What have you been up to?”

“Clean up,” said Aita, looking at the maps.  She knew the ideas behind them, but she couldn’t work them the same way Luco could.  Aita had a feeling that Luco was very good at Pai Sho. 

“You have a change of clothes here?” asked Luco.

“I think so,” said Aita. “I have some papers for Amon.”

“Sure you don’t want to give them to Rat?”

“I don’t think Rat wants them,” said Aita with a shrug.  Luco glanced over at her and Aita shrugged.  She didn’t understand the woman better than anyone else.  Aita reached into her shirt and threw the papers on the table.  Luco lifted them and then swore.

“I’ll go contact Rebc.  Amon is helping one of the groups that ran into Team Avatar in the west sector,” said Luco. “Looks like they decided to go after someone or one of the places on those folders.  Who knows.”

“I would have thought he’d think it was too much of a risk, or playing into their hand,” said Aita. Luco shrugged.

“Lee’s going to be crashing with you.  He’s a bit devastated about his wife, though he should have known it was inevitable,” said Luco with a sigh. “I already got a report that Rebc says she’s going to be acting the front man from now on.  She thinks the cops will be watching her too carefully now for her to work with any of the more ‘volatile’ assets.   Whatever that bloody means, but she says the person replacing her, Joysh, is someone the cops will never expect. They really not know who I am?”

“Nope, you’re one of the ones who always wore the gas mask, so they only got one really blurry picture of you without it,” said Aita.  Luco snorted.

“Not that it would matter.  Working with Amon is my life now,” said Luco and then shook his head. “You should get some sleep Spirit.  We want you bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow to get more information.  You sure this won’t tip them off?”

“Someone was careless with the files,” said Aita with a shrug. “Are you worried about me Luco?”

“Amon will sulk if you get yourself killed,” Luco pointed out.  Aita rolled her eyes.

“Well, is there anything I can do?  I’m used to staying up later than this,” said Aita.

“No, you’re only going to get four to five hours of sleep as it is,” said Luco. 

“You are not my mother,” Aita said dryly. But Luco just glanced up at her and then pointed toward Amon’s room up the stairs.  Aita sighed and threw her hands up in surrender.

“Is there anything you’ll need to wake up in the morning?” asked Luco.

“A shot of espresso and demon roast should be a good start,” said Aita.

“Isn’t that an alcoholic drink?” asked Luco in confusion.  Aita rolled her eyes.

“Never mind, if you don’t know what is, it’s better for me to get it for myself.” Aita then turned on her heels and headed up the stairs.  Luco didn’t follow her, probably going back to his maps and plans.  Aita easily slipped into the room and then into the bedroom.  She gathered her clothes, trying to be as silent as possible since she could see Lee’s outline on Amon’s bed.  Aita wondered for a brief second where Lee would end up crashing from now on.  But housing really wasn’t her problem, and Lee would be having more problems getting over the loss, no matter how temporarily, of his wife. 

Aita slipped on her bed clothes and then walked to the bed.  She stared down at Lee for a few seconds.  It would be more comfortable to sleep with Lee, and it was an arrangement that she was comfortable.  She really didn’t like sleeping alone.  She didn’t feel safe.  But she had the feeling it would be wrong to sleep with Lee.  Yeah, they had done it before, when they were both hurt and recovering. Lee from falling off the Probending building and Aita from her father badly burning her shoulder, but this felt different.  Lee was married, and Aita was in a relationship with Amon.

In the end Aita dragged some extra bedding from the closet and made a little nest next to the bed.  She curled up in a ball and despite not having a warm body curled with her, and it being so early for her, it wasn’t very long until she had drifted off to dreams of pink and black ink. 


	14. Birthday Celebration

“Happy Birthday!” shouted the air temple.  Both twins laughed and ducked under the confetti their friends through over them.  Aita looked over at her brother, a smile of her face and laughed harder when she saw a long streamer had fallen on his head and lay down over the middle of his face.  She plucked it off and then almost had all the wind knocked out of her as the little kids ran into them to give them birthday hugs.  The older teens soon followed and Aita found herself awkwardly accepting a hug from the avatar. 

“Gosh,” said Sota, a wide smile still trying to crack his face. “What is all this?”

“A day long birthday party,” said Bolin proudly. Both twins blushed.

“The children insisted,” said Asami, as if letting the two accept the birthday party as it being something more for the Tenzin’s kids than for them.  And that did help.  Aita wasn’t used to proper birthday parties.  Usually their family would just say quiet ‘happy birthday’s’ in the morning, a small desert at night, and then one or two gifts at the end of the day.  And that was for everyone in their family.  Not even their half siblings recieved better treatment. 

“We got everything for today,” said Bolin.

“Including an early morning training session,” said Aita with a yawn.  She’d warned Amon that three days ago that her sessions with the rooted people of Republic City would have to be restricted to one night a week and that she have less time in general to check in with him.  It might be a week before she could see him.  No more because she really did need to spend a couple of nights a week away from Air Temple Island.  Aita had known he was angry then, and happily knew why instead of being left in the dark while Amon sulked in a bad mood.  If Aita didn’t come back he couldn’t be sure if something was wrong.  She could be fine if she was missing for three days, it could mean that for those three days she’s one of the white lotus’s who are ‘shadowing’ Korra.  Or it could mean that she had been caught and dealt with. 

Truthfully, Aita hadn’t known what Amon thought of that.  He had nodded and made noises and comments that meant he understood, but when she had tried to walk away, he had held on a second too long to her hand.  Aita rubbed at her wrist as she watched her brother used his air bending to send him flying as high in the air as he could.  The others laughed.  Aita felt someone nudge her and she glanced behind her to see Asami at her side.  It had been three days since she had last seen Amon.

Aita forced a smile as she looked over at Mr. Sato’s daughter.  It was strange being near Asami.  Aita didn’t see Mr. Sato often with him spending most of his time at the air sight often, but he genuinely loved his daughter, yet torn like Aita because of her unwavering loyalty to the benders around her.  Still, some of the gossip, he sounded worse off than Aita was, as if his child’s betrayal was sending him into madness.  Aita tended to package things nicely.  Not that it would work out nicely, but that her own actions were resolved and worked out in context to her brother being a bender.  She knew that her brother was more important than her goals, in some ways.  If Amon told her to kill Sota, than she would reveal who she was and explain why that wasn’t happening.  If Amon insisted she go through with the assassination, or had someone else assassinate her brother, she wouldn’t switch sides but she wouldn’t let Sota die.  And if he did, well, Aita would disappear, out of the city and then out of her mind.   

Aita sighed.  She had strong convictions, and the fact she wouldn’t budge on her loyalty to her brother bothered her.  In a spiritual sense, the people she killed never died.  The only negative repercussions was to her own soul, but karma and rebirth had punished her through her lives, and in this one given her the ability to see them all.  What she had seen when she looked into her past lives didn’t paint a pretty picture, if a soul had a personality or expression to it, hers was not flattering.  She hated knowing her own soul and its downfalls.  But at the same time, she needed this odd power to help Amon.  She might wish she was normal, a regular part of Amon’s army because having these abilities made her feel like a fake, but it had allowed her to give Amon a very powerful weapon, not only that, it allowed Aita to say with assurance that the ability to bend corrupted the mind. 

Asami laughed as Bolin did a rather ridiculous trick that ended up in him embarrassing himself.  She smiled as her brother practically fawned and exhausted over every stupid little gift that he could.  Aita finally had to remove herself, begging off a headache.  Which was the truth.  At one point she wondered if it was because the last avatar was trying to get her attention but now she thought it was just the noise. 

“Time passed quickly,” said Korra, coming to sit next to Aita as she settled down to mediate.  Aita glanced over at the avatar, wondering if the teen was going to try and talk to her.  It was about midday and Aita had a feeling that cake would be presented soon, but she really needed a moment to herself.  She didn’t know how much longer she could deal with being surrounded by benders.  It wasn’t just her ‘new’ family, but also all the White Lotus guards that were stationed everywhere on the island. 

As much as people said that the White Lotus was a mix of people from all regions and backgrounds, they usually meant the White Lotus was made up of different types of benders.  Aita couldn’t confirm that they were all benders.  There were tricks she could use, especially if they had a deep connection and belief in the presence and influence of spirit world.  Better if they worshipped something, whether that thing was real or imagined.  With the White Lotus, what you got was a mixed bag, just as it promised.  Aita knew some for sure, but others, it was just hard to tell.  No one was benderless, but that was a hard thing to pin down.  Much easier to tell if someone had something than didn’t have something. 

Aita centered herself, breathing in deeply, letting her senses crystallize into the moment.  She pushed away the influence of the Spirit World, a pull so much stronger at this island.  She counted her breath, became aware of it moving and how each breath in and out affected her body, started changing it unconsciously that way, and then moved on.  The object was to ground herself by using her own physical body, to ground her mind in what affected it at the moment.  Her attention during a meditation might move on near the end to smells or sound, but only things that she could hear in the immediate island, Tenzin had drilled her so well these last few days that she could shut out anything outside the room or the space she had situated in.  It was harder outside.  But mostly it was just centering herself on her body, on controlling her body to live in that physical realm.  She understood how it worked backwards, she was becoming more aware and conscious in the Spirit World even as she divorced herself from it.

When she opened her eyes, calm, headache gone, the avatar was still sitting next to her.

“There’s something very calming about you,” said Korra, turning to Aita with a smile.  Aita leaned over, breaking her good posture to look the avatar over.  What would Korra say when she realized whom Aita was?  Not that it mattered.  Aita hadn’t had too many meaningful interactions with the avatar as Spirit.  Not like Amon and Lee. Actually, while that assassin had said something about her working for Amon, there could be a chance that Spirit confused the avatar.  Yes, they had fought once, but Mirage had been on the defensive and escaped quickly, the other time Spirit had ‘saved’ her.  Well, there was the time she had tried to kill Tenzin. 

“Right,” said Aita.  Korra smiled nervously. 

“You don’t seem as fast as your brother,” said Korra.  Aita glared at her and Korra blushed. “I don’t mean like that.  But he’s such an airbender, I don’t see how he could work in at a store all day.”

“Not very well,” Aita admitted, standing up and cracking her back.  She looked over to see everyone else playing some sort of game.  Asami and Mako seemed to have forgotten that they were avoiding each other and were happily working together to play keep away with Tenzin’s kids.  “And he can be calm.  He has a certain amount of inner peace.  It’s just that this is the first opportunity that he’s ever had to really act out and use his bending.”

“This must be hard on you,” said Korra, clasping Aita’s shoulder.  Aita glanced at her. “Your brother finally gets to show off his bending and Amon…”

“He only gets to show off his bending because of Amon,” Aita pointed out.  Korra stiffened. “But no, I don’t like this.  He’s in more danger this way.”

Korra chuckled. “You two are really protective of each other.  Sato gets worried because you have to leave every night but then frets when you stay over.  Lately only you telling him to stay and Tenzin repeated reminding him why he has to stay with us, that keeps him from following you home.”

Aita groaned and started down the stairs.  The avatar followed her.

“Has Aang been trying to contact me?” asked Korra.  Aita paused and then looked back.

“I don’t think so.  He hasn’t been trying to reach you through me anyway,” said Aita. Korra quickly went to stand in front of Aita. “I thought you had started getting better at reaching the Spirit World.”

“But he might have something to say,” said Korra, ignoring Aita’s observation and the implied question in it. “Or the Spirit World might have some insight to give me that I can’t access.”

“The avatar only goes into the Spirit World when they have to.  Most of them visit perhaps a dozen times in their lives.  You’ll find that the less an avatar has to act as a bridge, the better.  The only thing you’re missing is the avatar state, and since you can be killed permanently in that, I would highly suggest not trying that around Amon,” said Aita.

“But it would give me all the knowledge of the past avatars,” Korra whispered.

“Amon isn’t like the past enemies they fought.  You start using it and they might not know how to fight a chi blocker,” said Aita. “Chi blocking is relatively new, and while the first chi blocker knew Aang, that’s only one avatar, and the beginning discovery of something like this it will change and grow rapidly.  In other words, it will probably just get you killed.”

Korra sighed and rested her head in her hands.  Aita shook her head.  Still, Amon going against the avatar in “avatar” mode would be beyond dangerous.  The only time Aita knew of that anyone had come close was when Zuko’s sister had technically killed the avatar, and that was only because he tried to reach the ultimate avatar state while in the middle of a battle.  To kill the avatar while in the avatar state was impossible.  They had the knowledge of all the avatars behind them, all that knowledge, and all their power use to the very finest of their abilities. 

What would it matter?  The universe would probably create another avatar, yes, the cycle of their lives were broken, but something would take the avatar’s place.  They were the bridge after all.  The Spirit World needed that bridge to keep a hold on its tenuous and ever changing existence.  Without it… Aita drew away from avatar.  She had no idea what would become of the Spirit World. 

“I think I would risk,” said Korra finally. Aita snorted. 

“Well, just remember.  With the avatar state there’s two steps.  First you find it, and then you figure out how to use it effectively,” Aita pointed out. “Even the last avatar stopped using the avatar state until he figured out how to find the ultimate state.  And that took finding enlightenment.  Somehow I think finding enlightenment might, opening your chi’s, whatever you want to call it, is going to take you a bit longer than most.”

“You’re a real downer you know that?” asked the avatar.  Aita glanced over at her and then rolled her eyes.  Here she had thought she was a calming influence. “Come on, I think I heard something about cake, and if we don’t hurry Meelo and the other kids will eat all of it.”

Korra grabbed Aita and started to drag her toward the party.  Aita allowed herself to be dragged.  After cake they played more games.  Asami and Aita ended up standing to the side with Tenzin’s wife.  Aita would have rather meditated.  She was sure that participating in this wouldn’t give her any useful information.  More gossip, which Aita didn’t see the point to.  She could tell Amon that the relationship was still going nowhere, and Asami was now tolerating Mako, but that meant their teamwork was still off, so still nothing new. 

But she stood with the others, slowly accumulating a growing headache, because Asami clung to her arm, and Rat told her that good information could come at anytime.  The enemy might not even know what they were saying was valuable.  But telling Amon that Sato continued to be the most oddly inept air bender probably wasn’t going to be useful. 

“Avatar!” someone shouted from the docks.  Asasmi seemed to forget that she held Aita hostage as she ran over with everyone else.  The woman was in a fire bending cops uniform. “You have to help.  They’re going after her.”

“Who are ‘they’ going after?” asked Korra.  The woman huffed and Bolin hardly reacted fast enough to catch her.  Aita took a couple of steps closer as Tenzin walked over to the woman and took her hand from her side.  The palm and fingers were painted a thick dark red.  She pushed away at him, still breathing hard, looking at Korra imploringly.

“I’m sorry.  We thought if we broke her before we handed her over.  At least made sure we had the right girl…” she trailed off, her throat catching a sob. “And we were right about her, why else would he rescue her.”

“Miss, please, just explain,” said Korra.  Air temple initiates were already running their way. 

“We have Spirit.  We caught her two days ago running through the streets.  She’s too weak to do anything at the moment, but Amon’s men attacked about half an hour ago,” she said.

“Where?” demanded Tenzin, but the woman fainted.  Tenzin swore and a bunch of monks came and picked the woman off and whisked her away.

“She works with dad, I think,” said Sota, looking over at Aita.  Aita shrugged.  She never paid any attention to any of the people their stepfather worked with. But Sota was already turning away to talk to the avatar.  Aita glared Korra, though the other girl gave her no notice. 

“Can you lead us there?” asked Korra. Sota nodded and they were all off toward the docks.  One good thing about Korra being a good water bender, Aita supposed.  They all piled in the boat, Aita grabbed onto the sides as they Korra sent the water out behind her, propelling them forward at a high speed. 

They all jumped out to the garage where Asami’s car was being held.  Aita ended up sitting next to the nonbender.  Asami smiled at Aita and then gunned the car.  It screeched and Aita held onto the door, her braid wiping out behind her.  Asami let a little whoop.  Aita looked to see her brother sitting on the top of the seats.  Since there weren’t enough actual ones for him to sit in.  Aita shook her head.  She wanted to hide down where she couldn’t see how fast everything was whipping past her, and her brother was basically asking something to knock him out of the vehicle.  Then again, he had airbending to catch him.  Aita greatly doubted any of her movements would keep her from coming out worse to wear if she felt out of the monstrosity.

“Left here,” she shouted.  She glared at her brother, who wasn’t paying attention to her.  Asami made a frantic turn and the tires squealed.  Aita tried to choke back her heart that seemed to have jumped into her mouth.  Why was she in the front giving the rich girl directions when her brother had been the one who told her that he knew the way?  Aita glanced back quickly, before shouting another turn a moment a huge puff of smoke and fire went up from the direction they were driving to. 

Who was this girl that the police had captured?  The fire cops weren’t well funded or well thought of, and for good reason.  While there might be some decent people, and maybe even a few who could have made decent cops, the problem was they had no real training and most of the staff was overhyped bullies with something to prove.  The girl they had could very well either have been a anti-bender supporter who was stupid and wanted to emulate Amon by also wearing a mask, to just a girl who had been at some sort of masquerade party.  Aita wasn’t really that into the scene, but she knew that masks were a big turn on for a lot of people or even a religious thing.  And knowing the cops, her refusal that she was Spirit had only spurred them to ‘interrogating’ until the girl cracked and starting telling them anything they wanted to in order to make them stop.  Aita didn’t know much about torture, she was more the one to get in quick and leave quickly, but she knew it was a delicate procedure.  Done wrong, it could just cause more confusion. 

Still, what should she do?  Was there any way she could convince them to release her?  Anything to save the girl from more torture?  That was if the avatar accomplished their task of… well, that was the question, wasn’t it?  They’d just hoped on the boat and gone off.  Aita would guess the goal was to stop the revolution and get ‘Spirit’ to the metal bending cops. What would they do here anyway?  The group was small, sure they had the avatar, but she was one girl who didn’t seem to really understand how to defend herself against chi blockers, with two thugs, a hyperactive just starting to be trained airbender, a nonbender with a glove, and a routed who was actually a spy. 

And what should Aita do, if she had to do anything at all.  If she saw the cops or team avatar were getting away with ‘Spirit’ should she try to subtly stop them?  What if Amon got the girl?  Would he think she really was Spirit?  There were going to be dissimilarities, no matter who she was.  Aita had a very distinctive pattern of scars, and her personality and tricks were hard to replicate, but how messed up was she?  How badly had they hurt her mentally and physically?  Would it be clear that it wasn’t her?  What would she do or say when she went back to Amon?  How should she make sure to approach them so they didn’t hurt her? 

Aita sighed; Asami seemed to know where she was going.  The plume of smoke and fire probably helped.

Still, it wasn’t much use worrying about these things now.  She still had to just make it through the night while still playing her part.  Aita sighed.  She knew that today or tomorrow she would start fighting against the revolution as Aita.  The difficulty was balancing her actions.  On one hand, she had to convince the avatar and the rest of the team, and the cops, that she was against the revolution.  On the other hand, she had to do it so that when her cover was blown, Amon would believe she wasn’t a traitor to their cause.  It would be so much easier if she was just a silent White Lotus guard.  So much less messy.  But no, not only was she only a step away from, in some ways, being a fucking bender, she was also the grandchild of the previous avatar. 

The car screeched to a halt and Aita hardly caught herself.  She shook her head.  Why was she even thinking about this?  All that mattered was working and being there for Amon until she was useless.  The worse thing that would happen was if her reveal made people lose faith in Amon and what he stood for.

“Aita,” Sota grabbed her arm and started to pull her toward a building that looked worse for wear.  Thankfully the fires seemed to be a little controlled at the moment.  The avatar spent no time going to one of the cops on scene who looked strained, probably had been reassigned to keeping the fire from spreading throughout the city.

“Where are they?” Korra demanded, shouting at cop.  He didn’t even look her way.

Aita rolled her eyes and closed her eyes, letting her mind… Aita sucked a quick breath in.  Her hand automatically going to her head.

“Are you okay?” asked Sota.  Korra sent her an annoyed look.  Aita returned it.

“They’re in the station,” she told Korra.  Korra opened her mouth but then shook it and made a motion for her to take the lead.  Aita did so quickly, Sota at her heels, and the rest of the avatar gang getting closer to her than she was sure they usually did. Bending did take space in order to use. 

As they came close to the building her comrades seemed to appear from nowhere.  They were all instantly on guard.  Aita shifting into a fire bending stance.  She had to admit; it was rather intimidating and frightening how they had just appeared out of thin air and the glowing green eyes with a body covered in armor sent shivers of fear down her spine.  Aita couldn’t help smiling as followed the rest of the group and attacked.  What was Amon’s plan?  Was he really here to get here?  Or was he also here to mess with the avatar?

A comrade almost caught her off-guard.  Aita stepped back, awkward and tense because she was trying to keep her mind straight and not automatically attack with a quick series of jabs.  Asami came to Aita’s rescue, hitting the equalist straight in the face with an electric powered glove.  Aita took a deep breath in and ran with the rest of the group into the building.  One equalist got back up, quickly dodging Korra’s attacks, clearly one of Tozen’s old students who had studied how to dodge and used Aita to show off and emulate basic element style so they could counter and dodge it. 

Aita ran forward tackled him to the ground.  Sota followed her, swearing, and tore the equalist from her and sent him flying.  Sota hauled her up, giving her a look before they followed the rest of the group.  There were still spots where it was clear that the fire had started, but the explosion definitely hadn’t happened in the building.  Actually, the more they got in, the less recent scoff marks there were. 

“Avatar,” someone whispered.  Aita turned the corner to see the chief of the firebending cops, surrounding and look into the cells held underground.  She took a deep breath in, and then she let her eyes roll back.  There was something very, tense, and hard in the area.  Like electricity was flowing through her veins and ripping through the area. 

“Aita,” Korra said, grabbing the equalist’s shoulder and making her jump.  Aita felt her entire body tense, she wanted to strike out.  Being out in the field was a lot different than back with the others fighting Korra or Tenzin and the kids.  They held back, the mock fights were tests or lessons.  Now though, well, she was being reminded why she had played off her ability to emulate bending forms as almost useless to a bender.  When fighting against someone at her ability or higher, she wanted to use the tricks she’d established and built as Spirit to outwit her opponent, tricking and using the bending forms against them while actually attacking with chi blocking. 

Aita looked up, her breath catching momentarily as she let her head back, bringing her hand to her forehead.

“Aita is something wrong?” asked Sota.

“They’re coming back for us,” said Aita, not even really meaning to say anything.  And then she gasped her eyes popping wide.

“Why?” asked Korra but Aita shook her head and looked at the chief.

“Spirit died,” she said.  He looked taken back, then proud, then he grew serious.

“What should we do?” he asked, turning to Korra. 

“We stand and fight them,” said Korra strongly. “They might be thickheaded and make mistakes now that Amon’s girlfriend is dead.  Asami, Aita, you two stay here, protect them.  The equalists will probably be after the cops for her death. The rest of us will go out and try head them off.”

“We should fortify ourselves here,” said the cop. “Or better yet seek asylum with the earth bending cops.  The equalists wouldn’t dare attack there with how weak their forces are now, and this district will be safe from further harm.”

“No, what if they take this district hostage?  Threaten to kill all of the benders?” demanded Korra.

“The metal benders should be arriving soon anyway.  These equalists are good at surprise attacks, but they’re yellow bellied and will retreat the moment things get a little hairy,” she the chief.

“Plus, this district is neutral ground,” Aita pointed out, which earned her a few confused looks.  One of the female fire bending cops rolled her eyes.

“This district we’re in right now is mostly nonbenders.  You go to the right or left, but for some reason a little pocket formed itself around the station of nonbenders.  They hate us, so we have no idea how this happened, but Amon won’t attack his own people,” said the cop and then she made a face. “Well, hold them hostage anyway.  He seems to not care about unintentional responsibility.”

“Aita?” asked the avatar.  Aita shook her head.  It was like she was trying to swim through her mind.

“I don’t know.  I can’t force myself to see the future this way,” said Aita with a shrug. And then she let her head tilt to the side. “Plus, whoever is invoking the spirits so obsessively is pretty clear on who they’re targeting, and it isn’t the civilians or the avatar.”

The chief looked at her.  Aita had no idea who what he knew about her father or his behavior.  He never attacked her in front of them, but it wasn’t like they came to his house.  As far as Aita knew, they all thought her father was wonderful, maybe a little gruff.  Hell, maybe they would understand his side of things.  Getting married to a woman who already had children, useless children.  Worse, one of them was rooted.

“Then here’s the plan.  You guys head for the metal bending cops station with Aita and Asami.  We’ll hold the equalists as well as we can until backup comes and we’ll meet with Tenzin with the rest of the council,” said Korra.  They nodded and the firebending cops started leaving before Asami could start complaining.  Aita looked around for her father, but decided that he must be on a different rotation or taking a vacation.  Which was probably a good thing, she might be tempted to sabotage her cover just to make sure he got into Amon’s hand.  It had been hard enough sleeping under the same roof as him and not taking away his bending.  It would have been so easy. 

A hand slipped into hers, and she jumped a little as they continued to run full speed out of the building and then toward the metalbending cops station.  The streets were dark, the lights hardly enough to illuminate the road, and left many shadows for equalists to hide in. 

Aita kept a tight hold of the hand folded in hers.  Not Asami, some female cop with a bright smile.  Aita winced, a headache building behind her eyes as her mind pulled between the two worlds.  Usually she could filter out what she couldn’t stop from reaching her from the Spirit World.  Now, it was like the two worlds were fighting to take over her head entirely.  She could hear the equalist’s prayers dragging her toward the pools of reflected truth and dangers unknown to the real world.

Still, it was probably a good thing.  Her first time out in the field with Team Avatar and she was hardly coherent enough to keep on her feet.  If one equalists prayers could knock her almost completely into the Spirit World, than as a fighter, she was pretty useless.  Aita hadn’t been big on the idea anyway.  She just hadn’t fought it because she wanted to properly learn bending forms.  Well, sort of, quite a few lessons had been from Asami on how to fight if you did not bend. 

Aita could see the world becoming a slight yellow in her eyes with mixes of blue obscured by puffs and wisps of never ending fog.  A woman laughed in the background and Aita stopped dead, pulling on the arm that was holding her and shouting for everyone to stop.  An explosion went off, and Aita felt her feet leave the ground as she was tossed backward by something and hit the ground rolling.  Her ears rang and she felt herself slipping to the side and suddenly she was on a mountain top.

“Where am I?” she asked, her words bouncing all around her.  She felt herself tip to the side and hardly caught herself in time to stop a face plant.  She took a deep breath in, trying to keep from choking or vomiting, her vision swimming in front of her.  Her ears were still ringing with muffled shouts and screams.  It felt like her limbs were being squeezed to the point of bruising and as she looked down, what appeared as finger marks pushed into her skin and caused the skin under it to darken. 

“Please,” Aita said.  Her vision swam and she felt her body shifting to her side while her brain seemed to be fitting to explode in her head. 

“Miss?” asked a little girl in a big skirt, pig tails, and buck teeth. “Miss?” asked another look alike from her left, then her right, then her back.  Aita let her head fall back, brought up her hand, and was instantly whisked back into her own mind.  She took a couple of deep breaths and held up her hand to feel the tears that had started to stream down her face. 

“Come on Aita, it’ll be okay,” Aita looked over at Asami.  The other girl looked frightened, there was a nasty scrape across her brow and her face and clothes covered in dirt. Her brows furrowed in worry and then it evened out into confusion. “Are you back?”

“Was I gone long?” asked Aita, bringing a hand to her forehead and feeling another tear slip down her face.

“No, just long enough to get you here.  The woman guiding you got the worse of the blast…” said Asami with her eyes downcast.  There was the sound of another explosion and both girl’s tensed.

“I’m sorry,” said Aita, catching Asami’s attention again.

“What happened to that cop…”

“Not about that.  Because of me you don’t get to be out there fighting,” said Aita.  Asami shrugged her eyes becoming downcast.

“My father is one of them.  I know he isn’t with them right now, but I can’t help but think that someday I’m going to have to fight him,” Asami took a deep breath and then looked Aita in the eyes. “Will I have to fight him?”

Aita looked at the nonbender and then shrugged.

“I’m sorry, it doesn’t work that way,” she said softly, tensing as the sound of footsteps passed outside the building they were crouched in.  Asami laughed softly and shook her head, her wavy hair shaking as she tried to hold back sobs.  It would probably be better for her if she was outside fighting equalists.  Not in this room with Aita and her thoughts. 

“I just feel like everything is falling apart,” she said shakily, clutching her forearms tightly. “I mean, I think I know… my parents taught me right.  My father always talked about equalisty and not judging people and then he becomes an equalist, blaming what a couple of benders did on benders in general.  And then I have this amazing boyfriend who was a bender and that proved… but then he was in love with the avatar.  I found myself wondering if dad hadn’t gotten it right.  I mean, it was a passing thought, really, but… how could I think that even if it was only for a second?”

Aita looked at Asami, every instinct told her to keep her mouth shut.  It had only been a second, a passing thought, everyone had those in rough patches.  They sometimes meant something, but often they were just a thought.  She had her own beliefs if Amon was doing the right thing, but they had been moments of weakness when her brother was kind, when she remembered how good it had been with Tenzin before she went back to her father.  But then she remembered what other benders had done to her and other nonbenders.  She remembered that as good as her memories were of Tenzin tainted by the fact her brother wasn’t there.  That he was family and then let her go, and even if he didn’t know… he should have.

So she couldn’t say anything.  As much as she wanted to.  It would be so much easier if she had someone who knew both her identities.  Aita might not be a gossip, but lately she felt like she was bursting to talk.

Green eyes appeared from the dark.  Aita got ready to fight, but Asami automatically pushed her backwards.  Aita let herself fall to the floor and then swung her legs and hooked them so that she tripped one of the attacking equalists.  Her stepfather came in through the door and got rid of the last one.  Asami grabbed Aita’s arm and pulled her back into the streets.  Fire reached up into the sky, lighting the area nicely.  No one was in sight, but the two girls kept close together.  Aita flexed her fingers, the hand Asami was holding becoming numb. 

And then she felt it, a tug on her entire body that made her feel like the breath had been knocked out of her.  Asami turned to her.

“Did you see something?” she demanded.  Aita nodded and then threw Asami off her and headed back and toward one of the burning buildings at full speed. “Aita?”

“Don’t follow me,” she shouted behind her and crashed into the building, shoving her sleeve into her mouth as she crouched.  Her eyes narrowed as smoke surrounded her, and despite the sleeve filtering her breath she found herself coughing.  Still, he was in here somewhere.  She didn’t dare call out his name.  Aita pushed forward, her face heating up, but he was in there.  Aita closed her eyes and let the Spirit World guide her until she finally found him. 

Sota was paid out on the floor, unconscious.  Despite what her senses told her, Aita felt her heart stop.  She bent down and checked for a pulse, letting out a breath when she found he was still breathing.  She pulled her brother’s arm, she looked back, her stepfather had followed her, but stayed right outside the door.  She tried to pull her brother up, but at the last minute threw him over her shoulder just as a support beam fell and pinned her down. 

Aita gasped in pain, her mind became clear and focused for a second on the immediate situation.  She choked and gasped in air, pain radiated through her body and she couldn’t figure out if it was from the weight of the beam or if the fire had started to consume her body.  She took a deep breath and them looked over, her eyes becoming hazy, but something was lifting her brother, she could feel it, almost see it.  She took a deep breath in and then, it was her stepfather.  He had Sota, but, he didn’t come back to her, he wasn’t coming back to her.

Tears streamed down Aita’s face.  She hated him.  She hated him so much.  It was bad enough what he had done to her.  But he believed in the Spirit World.  He had his own version of a God, of superstition in something called the Mirror Soul.  And so she heard his prayers, she had listened to them obsessively for weeks.  How they changed.  How cruel they were and how much she hated for some of the things he asked for.  To be free of the useless twins.  To be able to kill citizens to prove a point.  She hated it more when they were sweet.  When he prayed for his wife to be happy.  For him to make enough to support his family.  She hated when he was tragic, when he asked what he had done to deserve some of the things he’d seen.  Why a little boy had been drowned by his family.  Why a girl had fallen into prostitution.  It hurt how much he felt for those strangers. 

And then he turned his back on her for her last time and left her to die in the burning building.  Aita felt a laugh bubbling in her chest, but it died under the weight of the beam on her. 

And then it moved.  Aita turned to see a comrade helping her, his green eyes pointed away from her.  She gasped and shook wiggling out from under the beam and letting the equalist whisk her away. 

He didn’t stop until they were far into the tunnels when he stopped to check on her.  By this time the headache had become an almost debilitating migraine. 

“Why?” she asked.  He glanced at her.

“I saw what happened.  We can help you,” he said, voice muffled by his mask.

“How?” she asked, but the world was already starting to black out. 

“Sh, it’ll be okay.  I’ll get you to someone who can help,” he said.  Aita groaned, wanting to know more.  But her world darkened out and she slipped into unconsciousness. 


	15. No Rest for the Wicked

When Aita woke up, she wished she had died under that pillar.  Everything hurt, including her head.  Someone was trying to talk to her, but she turned away.  A voice muttered irritably to her left and she scrunched up.  Firm hands gripped her arms and she started to fight, but that only sent more waves of pain coursing through her body.  Finally she laid back, still unable to listen to what people were saying.  It was like the first time she’d tried to drag herself into the real world.  She’d forgotten what that was like.  She had forgotten what it was like to live in the Spirit World until now.  It had been so much easier there.  Sure, it had its own set of rules, but they were rules, everything had its own nature and it was so much less complicated than it was here. 

Aita let her mind drift.  She’d spend some time in the Spirit World to let her body heal.  It would be peaceful.  Her brother wouldn’t call her to the edge of the Spirit World now that he thought she was dead.  Maybe she would sleep until the war ended.  She wasn’t anything but a liability to Amon now.  Better if he thought she was dead, that way he wouldn’t be disappointed by what she really was.

Tears gathered in her eyes but Aita took a deep breath and then let go.  Tears were so much more fun to look and play with in the Spirit World.

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

When she woke up again it was because her brother had suddenly developed a religious streak after her “death” and wouldn’t shut up.  There was nothing like a distraught and grieving brother to make Aita hate the relief that the Spirit World.  Still, she really does envy her younger self, it had been hard to drag herself back, despite the constant yammering of her brother.  She really was supposed to exist, at least in mind, in the Spirit World.  When she was there she didn’t have to keep her mind focused, the headaches were gone, she could sleep when she wanted to with no fear of the Real World dragging her back to her body.  And now that she had her memories back, she remembered the rules, the tricks, of getting around the Spirit World intact.  They just made sense in a way that the Real World’s did not.

Aita carefully let her eye lids peal back as she got ready to face whatever was on the other side.  An equalist had saved her.  She didn’t know who, but he had seemed familiar somehow, on reflection, but not in a way that she could understand. She stared at him.  Rather normal looking, the man had dark brown hair, sparkles of stubble, angular face.  Still, he didn’t look familiar.  Her mind wandered a little, her mind slipping into the abyss a little.  And wow, he was incredibly boring.  Aita had never seen a soul that embroiled itself in so many wars and was so frggin’ boring.  But that was all she could see, the man seemed to actively repel the Spirit World. 

“You’re awake,” the man after staring at her for a moment.  Aita blinked and titled her head a little, afraid to do more than that with whatever drugs she was on only muting the pain she now was sure was coming mostly from her left arm and lower back.

“You’re really boring,” said Aita finally, choking a bit at how dry her mouth and throat were.  The man quickly got her some water that she sucked half heartedly through a straw and then let go.

“What did you say?” the man asked.

“Does Amon know?” she asked, curling in a little as she stared at the man.  The man blinked, confusion drawing his eyebrows together.

“That wasn’t what you said,” he pointed out.  Aita huffed.

“I recognize this room.  It’s where Orlang’s practice is.  I’m not badly burned, so she put two and two together and probably mentioned it in passing thinking you know my identity,” Aita said.  The man flinched, sighed, and then nodded. “So does Amon know?”

“No, he didn’t want to hear it, and I thought it better to hold council until I knew more,” said the man, still fidgeting.  Finally he took a deep breath in, Aita rolled her eyes.

“Luco,” said Aita before he could introduce himself. He looked startled. “What do you want to know?  Is it my rooted state?  Do you not understand how I can be rooted in the Spirit World when you don’t believe in it?”

The more she said, the more Luco tensed.  Goading him probably wasn’t the best idea, considering her position.  But they never did get along, not at the best of times.  Luco’s chest seemed to completely deflate and then rise in anger.  Aita’s eyes narrowed and she coughed a little.  Her lungs were apparently also affected by her trip into the burning building. 

“How did you know?”

“I knew who you are first because of your stature and how you held yourself, and then by the way you push away almost all Spiritual influences of the Real World,” said Aita.  Luco shook his head.  He swallowed and his chest bones stuck out. 

“I believe in… I don’t believe it like the avatar claims that it exists,” he stumbled and then came to stand over her.  “You can’t…”

Aita tipped her head and then took in as deep a breath as she dared she could.  She raised her arm, the muscles shaking under its own weight as she reached for him.  Her pointer and middle finger rested on his forehead like she was accusing him.  Her heart pounded in her chest.  She wasn’t even sure what she was trying to do.  It wasn’t like she could stop her headache by doing this to him, though there was something about the way. 

And then it clicked.  There was a sudden release in his soul. Aita reached, but it wasn’t that she made him spiritual.  That would be stupid, and he still had that hard push to his being that made it hard to deal with him.  Luco sat back, rubbing his forehead.  Aita watched him, trying to figure out what had happened. 

Luco stared at his hands suddenly and then flicked them out.  He looked up at Aita and she just stared at him, not really understanding what was going on. 

“You took my bending,” he said softly.  Aita instinctively thrust herself backward and only Luco springing forward to steady her and bring her back on the cot. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t realize you were a bender,” said Aita, her first instinct had been to apologize, but that wouldn’t have made any sense.  One, she was the equalist who taught Amon to remove bending, she didn’t feel bad for taking bending away, that didn’t make sense even in the context of her brother.  Two, Luco shouldn’t have been a bender, and if he was, he should have been one of the first to volunteer to have his bending removed.

“I noticed that when we went through the mic scare.  Where I froze some water on the ground by accident and you thought it was because waterbenders had planted mics in our meeting room,” Luco said chuckling, moving his hands in flicks.  It took her a second to realize he was doing basic moves.  Ones that showed maybe a basic understanding of waterbending without further instruction.  So, he had abandoned his bending, that would make sense, sort of.

Aita stared at them and then brought her hand up.  Her head already felt like it was about to burst.

“I can’t stop being rooted.  Obviously,” Aita said, letting her own hands fall down on the cot. “But why didn’t you..?”

“I was scared,” Luco admitted with a sigh. “I was a bender masquerading as one of the equalists for so long.  I firmly believe everything we stand for, but I felt like a hypocrite and kept giving excuses why it was better to fight with Amon than kill myself.  The more I rose in ranks the more I was able to delude myself.  And then you taught Amon how to take bending.  It seemed like a dream come true, but the more I thought about it, the more absurd and horrible it would be for me to ask you to take my bending.  I hardly remember why now.”

Luco laughed, and Aita reached out for him.  He stared at her hand for a second before wrapping his fingers around her.

“What is your decision?” she asked finally.  He looked up at her.

“Well, from what I can tell he chose death,” said Orlang.  Aita jumped a little and tried to turn to see the healer, but both of them stopped her.  Two sets of hands keeping her from moving around too much. “Careful Spirit, we’ll get you moving, hopefully to Amon tomorrow, but we need to check on your back.  I believe it will be fine, but you’ll need to be careful for as long as Amon can spare you.  If you could keep your mind here I would appreciate it.  You kept trying to get up yesterday which is why Luco was watching you when you woke up.”

Aita found herself blushing and then looking away from Orlang.

“Sorry, I forgot about that,” said Aita.  Orlang nodded.

“You’re lucky Luco knew what was going on.  Your back isn’t bad, but I would be afraid what would happen if I tried to keep someone rooted tied down,” said Orlang, she lifted Aita’s shirt, the cold air making the equalist shiver. “Any other important medical facts you might have failed to mention?”

“Nothing, headaches connected to it, but those are normal,” Orlang made a noise and Aita sighed. “I’m rooted.  I’m naturally supposed to exist in the Spirit World.  Keeping my mind here is a bit of a chore, especially considering the amount of drugs you have me on at the moment.  I was planning on slipping away again once I found what Luco was deciding.”

“He decided to help you. Start pushing you finding that cure for people like you.  Amon doesn’t care about who you are, and I don’t think it matter either,” said Orlang. “Though I wish Amon had wanted to know.  That way we could have rounded up that father of yours.”

“Stepfather,” Aita said automatically, and then she winced. “Not that my real father is any better.”

“Can’t choose family,” said Luco with a knowing sigh. Aita smiled gratefully and continued to allow Orlang to push her around.

“Are the meds really that bad?” asked Orlang.

“I need almost all my concentration on a normal day to stay here.  It’s why I’m good at what I do.  When I focus, I really have to focus.”

“That would explain why sometimes when you space out it takes you a little longer than normal to snap out of it,” Luco said dryly, and Aita found herself blushing and shrugging.

“Actually, I’m better than I used to be.  I used to just slip away, but I found a trick to it.  Away to organize my thoughts so I can reflect but stay grounded.  I’m trying to do it right now,” said Aita, swaying a little as Orlang continued with more tests.

“I’ll see about reducing the pain medication you’re on, though you’ll be in a great deal of pain when that happens.  You twisted an ankle, broke your arm, and bruised your lower back badly.  I thought you did something to your spine, but as it is I wouldn’t be doing any mission for at least a week,” said Orlang.

“She wanted to keep you at the clinic for a couple more days.  I think she’s upset it only took you two days to snap out of it,” said Luco. “But we promised Amon that we would get you back to him as soon as you woke up.  Actually, the way he was acting when he thought you were dead; I think you could have told him you were the avatar and he somehow would have made it work.”

Aita rolled her eyes.  Orlang made her do a couple of exercises while being careful to not upset her back.  Whatever she had done to it might not be “bad” in Orlang’s sense of the word, but the woman was known for underplaying some injuries and calling her patients babies, at the same time letting them know exactly what they had to do in order to keep in good shape. 

Luco hung around during the whole thing.  The only time Aita got a break from him was when she changed into some normal clothes.  By midday the whatever she had been had started to wear off.  Orlang gave her a smaller dose and something for her headache.  Aita had been afraid of addiction, Tenzin had always steered her away from anything but teas for that reason.  But Orlang had just shoved it at her and then basically called her an idiot and to listen to her doctor. 

“Could you stop staring?” Aita said finally, looking over at Luco. 

“I think I get it, a little, but I still don’t understand how it works,” said Luco.  Aita cocked her head to the side.

“You’re not spiritual enough for me to understand what you’re talking about,” said Aita and Luco sighed, bringing a hand up to rest on his forehead.

“I never had to really think about anything spiritual before.  My belief was that it existed, but not in the way or as powerfully as the avatar and his cronies make it seem,” said Luco. “After my findings on you yesterday, I’m just not as certain what it means.  What I have figured out is that I think what you see…”

“Is a manifestation of what my mind can handle being connected to something that human mind was not originally meant to comprehend,” Aita said as Luco seemed to lose his grip on the idea he had been forming.  He glared at her and Aita shrugged, she should probably clarify. 

“That’s an age old belief.  They say that because rooted experience elements as a whole, they create manifestations of it within their own realm of understanding.  The same is said when the avatar enters into the Spirit World.  What they see is what they can see.  What they’re mind makes sense of the stimuli and dangers presented to them,” said Aita.  Luco blinked and shook his head.  Aita laughed. “Is something still bothering you?”

“No, yes.  I talked to people who swore you could see the future, a couple that said you could see pasts, but that doesn’t seem to fit,” said Luco.  Aita closed her eyes.

“Tenzin used to say that any information I receive with my ability was hallucinations.  I should ignore them because they were echoes of my mind.  Ones left because I couldn’t quite completely drag myself from the Spirit World or it was trying to drag me back.  As a result I can see and feel certain things.   The city has a life of its own; there are certain spiritual creatures that wander invisible to the eye.  More than that, I can see past Spiritual events, in people that means I can see past lives.  You believe in that right?”

“I believe in the conservation of energy,” said Luco.  Aita titled her head to the side in confusion.  Then let her head slide to side.

“Okay, well then, I can see the past of the cycle the energy went through previous to the one they are acting out now.  I can even see glimpses of the path it has gone on if the person has strong spiritual connections,” said Aita, Luco cut her off.

“That sounds impossible,” he said.  Aita rolled her eyes. 

“If it helps, just believe it’s all a hallucination,” she said dryly.

“Is that why when you woke up you called me boring?  Because you were looking at my pasts,” he asked.

“I was trying to figure out who you were.  Not that it helped.  It was more… actually, it was a mix of the way you held yourself and your rejection of the Spiritual World that tipped me off to who you actually were,” said Aita.

“Why am I boring?” Luco asked.  Aita titled her head and then laughed.  She couldn’t help it. 

“Guess everyone is susceptible to that.  Believe me, telling futures is fun because they’re vague and liable to change.  This particular one, seeing people’s pasts, I’d like to keep on the down low as much as possible,” said Aita, still chuckling.

“Why?” asked Luco.  Aita looked around the room.  Orlang had popped out.  While Amon had charged her to spend her time fixing Aita up, there was only so much Orlang could do before she just had to let nature take its course.  So she had gone to take care of others in her practice. 

“Not everyone wants to actually know their past’s lives, some are lovely, but everyone has one that they can’t bring themselves to believe,” said Aita.

“And all of mine were boring?” asked Luco. Aita snorted.

“I’m not saying a couple of them weren’t horrible, but I find that most people’s spirit have certain trends to them.  Not personalities, per say, but maybe what you could call habits or repeating patterns.  Like you.  You almost always get embroiled in some sort of fight or war and then go about being a part of it in the most boring way possible.  This lifetime is the most exciting you’ve been,” said Aita. “You can see it in the avatar.  So many lives, but a general sort of tone to them, though I don’t know what you’d call it.  You should see Asami’s though.  So beautifully tragic.  Like a glass dancer as it breaks across marble.”

“Mr. Sato’s daughter’s lives are like glass shattering on marble?  What does that even mean?” he asked.  Aita laughed. “Have you looked at your own past lives?”

Aita’s laugh became bitter. “Pathetically tragic.  I destroy myself in every single one.  And I’ve done it all and seen firsthand what a corrupter bending is.  I’ve extorted, blood bent, murdered, tortured.  I’ve been all for a cause and all for myself and made everyone around me miserable, and in the end it’s my own fault I end up dead or worse.”

“What makes you think this time will be different?” asked Luco.

“I don’t.  Not really.  I figured that as soon as I was caught I would be dead,” said Aita with a shrug.

“You didn’t think Amon would save you?” Luco asked in surprise.  Aita shrugged and then took a deep breath in. 

“I thought he might help,” she admitted, not looking Luco in the eyes. 

The man shifted for a few seconds before standing up.

“You’re not what I expected,” he said finally and Aita found herself sighing again and shrugging.

“Sorry.  As Aita I’m reserved, bitter, judgmental, and currently a Spiritual Leader.  I’m so used to keeping that separate from me as Spirit that…” Aita trailed off and shrugged.  Luco leaned over and clasped her shoulder in his hands. 

“Who are you really?” he asked.

“Loyal to Amon,” Aita said, because who she was had always been Aita and Spirit.  She thought that by now she would be dead, or that now that Aita was dead, would Luo knowing her change things?

“What are you two talking about?” asked Orlang. 

“Spirit can see into people’s pasts,” said Luco.  Aita looked up at him in confusion.                      

“Oh, what about mine?” asked Orlang.  Aita turned back to her and let Orlang fuss at her. 

“You’re past lives are grandiose,” said Aita with a smile.  Orlang snorted and Luco glared at her. “I mean it.  You were a miner in one and you still ended up being, you.”

“Well, of course I’m me,” said Orlang with a shake of her head. “I think it’s time you got some sleep.  Amon will probably keep you awake plenty tomorrow with pointless questions, and you’re starting to get a bit silly.”

Orlang tucked Aita in and the equalist found herself smiling at the woman and even Luco. “Remember, try to keep yourself in the Real World.”

Aita nodded, but was already slipping into sleep before she could tell Orlang that sleeping opened her more to the Spiritual World.

-A-I-T-A-S-P-I-R-I-T-

Each step Aita took was slow and measured as she made her way down the underground tunnels toward wherever Amon has setup base for the day.  Aita’s back ached, and she hoped Orlang was right when the woman said her back would start feeling better soon, because at the moment it hurt more than any of the burns that she got in the fire.  Not that she had many despite being in the middle of it.  The worse she had was the broken arm and the damage caused by breathing in smoke, but that had been treated and her lungs only seemed a little “tighter” than usual.  Actually, the worse burn she got was to her hair that, while not being traditionally short, now was hardly long enough to put into a braid. 

Still, it felt nice to be in her old uniform again.  It was heavy, but the black fabric was loose enough to fit over her cast.  Her mask is also something she missed, though it would be easier to deal with if she didn’t constantly remind herself it was there.  Still, she feels much more comfortable in Luco’s presence now that she is properly dressed.  Not that it mattered, he knew what she looked like and who she was under the disguise, but somehow Aita felt different, protected, more sure of herself and her own convictions.  She still worried about what Amon would think, and whether Luco would turn on her or not, but that wasn’t as important as the grand scheme of things.  Spirit needed to start being useful and caring out Amon’s orders as soon as it was physically possible. 

At the very least, she needed to lift moral by showing she really was alive and on the mend. 

Their footsteps echoed softly through the space.  Echoes of dripping water cascaded through the stony tunnel as they moved forward.  Aita glanced at Luco, once again wondering why he ws the only one escorting her to where Amon was.  She hadn’t thought he’d bring in a bunch of their comrades to see who she was.  But she had expected to meet some in the tunnels, even if they were only their as guards.

Luco took a sharp left and Aita followed behind him.  The ladder up to what was probably another abandoned warehouse.  Forcing herself to scale the ladder made Aita wince.  It seemed to pull uncomfortably at her back.  But she had felt worse.  Orlang had told her exactly what had happened.  Something about bone or muscle or something that sent little piecing moments of pain smoothed into a dull ache. It was, in many ways, worse than not being able to use her arm, since her arm didn’t pain her so much as it got in the way as she was scaling the ladder.

Luco helped support her as she fumbled out.  His hard mask also covering his face from the masses.  Aita had a fleeting moment to wonder if he also hid his identity from everyone around him.  She hadn’t really considered it before.  Luco’s mask was the standard one, so it wasn’t as obvious as Aita’s. But he never took it off.  Aita had never seen him eat before, never seen him lift him mask outside of the day before.  Maybe he hid his identity because he hid from his family, or his family was well known benders.  Which begged the question who he was still hiding from. 

An encompassing silence finally caught Aita’s attention.  She turned to look properly into the warehouse’s modified space.  What looked like a regiment of training chi blockers had stopped what they were doing and looking at her.  She glanced over at Luco without moving her head, but he offered her no support.  So with a sigh she slowly walked toward her comrades.  Most just continued to stare at her, but a couple of equalists took shaky steps away from her.  She stopped, confused.  She looked from person to person, but she had no idea what was really going on. 

Aita glanced from person to person and then finally found herself tensing and ducking.  Dou moved backward, his batons weren’t sparking with electricity but that didn’t mean they couldn’t cause any damage.  She moved backward, trying to keep from ducking and jarring her back to badly.  She quickly went for her wires.  They were a bit thin, but if he got her than she wouldn’t be in any better situation. 

She quickly took a lighter air bending form.  It was tempting to do water bending after learning the forms from a master.  Her grandmother had been big on healing, but that really didn’t help Aita much outside of helping chi flow, and she was already pretty good with that.

Dou circled brought his batons across and Aita dodged to the side and wrapped one end of the wire around his arm as carefully and loosely as she could.  She caught his arms then and made as if to throw him, catching his other hand and flipping the wire over it.  Finally, she dodged out of what could have been a very painful bear grapple and pulled the wire tight, making his hands come together and let go of the batons with a grunt.

“I’m hurt you jackass,” Aita whispered down at Dou.  The trainer looked up at her in surprise and then a smile spread across lips.  Suddenly a cheer went through the assembled equalists and they were all moving in a huge wave toward her.  Thankfully Luco came to her rescue; stepping out in front of her and making everyone pause in their movement and cheers.

“Spirit’s still recovering with a broken leg, bruised back, and twisted ankle.  We hope she has a quick recovery which means not injuring her further,” said Luco in a strong voice.

“But, she’s back right?  Amon said she’ll lead us again,” said one of the equalists hidden in the crowd. 

“Then why don’t we show her what we’ve accomplished while she took her break,” said Dou, winking at Spirit and then gesturing for her to follow him.  She did so, her mask hiding her smile.  She hoped she didn’t seem to stiff or slow next to Dou. “I didn’t even notice you did that all one handed.” He muttered as he led her to the front of the line up and it wasn’t long before they were demonstrating new tactical moves and practices for her.  Aita soon lost track of time just watching them all.  It was amazing how far they had come from the ragtag team back when she was thirteen.  Of course, they had to, what with the end coming and all. 

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Aita felt herself freeze, eyes locked on the teams fighting one another in mock battle.  Aita slowly turned to see Amon sitting calmly beside her.  She slowly reached out her good hand and squeezed his, he squeezed back.  She watched as the battle came to an end, Dou shouting and berating people with a few praises scattered in his usual gruff manner.  He did have time to winked at Aita when he saw Amon sitting next to her.  Aita tried to give him the finger, but Amon had her good hand captive and Orlang had wrapped up her arm nice and tightly. 

The equalists started to stare then and Amon dismissed them for the rest of the day.  Dou grumbled, but even he wandered off. 

“Come on Spirit, Bethai and the others will be here soon and it’s best to get you settled again,” said Amon, hauling Aita up to stand next to him as he started to leave.  Aita nodded and followed him dutifully from the room and down a little into a secured bunker that for the moment was Amon’s room.  Aita smiled as she walked around Amon and into the bedroom.  All of Amon’s spaces had the same general feel to them.  It wasn’t just the spiritual feel to them but just the spatial, what he had and where he put it.  The rooms even seemed to have the same basic shape and size to them. 

Aita breathed in and fell on the bed, closing her eyes as she cuddled into the blankets and breathed in Amon’s smell.  She’d get to sleep in his arms.  Aita didn’t know why sleeping with someone was so important to her, but she had missed it sorely these last seven days.  Even in the Spirit World she could feel it’s loose.  Maybe that’s why her body tried to get up and walk away from Orlang and Luco. 

Amon chuckled and Aita looked up at him, hardly able to see through the side of her mask.  She gathers the blankets up closer to her body and pretends to hold them possessively.  He chuckles and runs his hands through her hair as well as he can with it all done up.  Slowly he started lowering himself to lie next to her.  Aita made room.  She liked having a firm, warm body next to her.  It gave her something to focus on, to act as her anchor whether she was in the Real World when she dreamt or not. 

“Can’t you two show any restraint?” asked an old crackled voice.  Aita looked around Amon to see Bethai standing by the doorway between Amon’s bedroom and study.  She pushed at Amon with one hand and she was surprised that he actually seemed to sigh in disappointment as he lifted himself from the bed.  Once more offering a hand to Aita to help her up. 

Amon’s study it full when she enters it.  Even Mr. Sato is present, and a girl that Aita almost mistook for Rat, except she holds herself loser and is much more spiritual than the actual Rat.

“Spirit, we heard from Luco that you were okay, but it’s good to see you after all this,” said Lee, slapping Aita on the back.  He pointed at the Rat imposter. “Rat is taking over the title of Spy Master.  No reason to keep up appearances now that they know she exists.”

Aita nodded. 

“You can be debriefed by her after you’ve seen the rooted children tomorrow,” said Amon.

“Are you sure it’s her?” asked Mr. Sato.  Aita sat down on the table.  Amon stared at the man until he started to squirm.  And the fake Rat cackled. 

“I think he was checking when we interrupted,” Bethai said and leered at Amon.  Aita rolled her eyes.  Tozen then came in with Rebc.  The woman looked haggard and bothered.  She huffed into the room, saw Aita and then practically threw herself at the masked girls. 

“We were so worried,” said Rebc.  Aita held herself still as the woman attempted to squeeze her in two.

“Her back is still healing,” said Luco with a sigh.  Rebc instantly let go of Aita and retreated to find a seat of her own. 

“So we found very quickly you weren’t Vaya.  Poor girl.  Her poor family,” said Tozen. Aita turned on him and he sighed.

“The girl died.  She was half mad when we tried to save her.  When she died, well, assisted suicide seems too generous a term for what happened.  The equalists who were guarding her, well, the damage to the section of Republic City might be regrettable.  But at least you know how much you mean to the men now Spirit,” said Lee, shaking his head.  Aita glanced at him sideways and then turned back to stare at her hands.  She had never really led them.  She had the title for a little while, but in the end her specialty was in treachery.  In pretending to fight a certain way.  She was best when used as a spy, a thief, an assassin.  There was nothing about her they should look up to her for.

“It’s not your fault girl,” said Bethai.  Aita looked up at her and then away.  The conversation meandered from there.  Mr. Sato and Eith had made a breakthrough on their aerial plans of attack.  Rebc had taken over foreign affairs, the coordinator before her now in jail.  She talked about their support so that they could easily start an outward movement to rid their world of benders.  The reception was mixed.  There were plenty of people who hated benders, but uniting them and agreeing on a common leader, and that the leader was Amon. 

Aita got bored after a while, spending her time looking into the pasts of those she hadn’t seen before.  Her eyes glanced over Amon before moving on.  She still hadn’t looked at him properly.  Something horrible and unfair always keeping her from making that last step. 

Finally everyone was leaving.  Styles left, restocking her on her poisoned pins and adding some type of new powder to add to the drink of others.  This one was a simple sleeping powder, unlike the others it wasn’t supposed to be as easy to detect while drinking and would keep Aita from having to resort to her poisoned drugs of choice.  She made sure to thank him profusely as he left, shutting the door firmly when he finally exited. 

“Go and get ready for bed,” said Amon, a hand on her shoulder.  She turned to him, a little started, but finally smiled under her mask and went to get her bedclothes.  They were hidden under the bed for some reason; maybe her confession that she hid her clothes all over the city had made Amon mischievous. She slipped into the bathroom, she didn’t need to wash up, she hadn’t done anything to warrant that, but it was custom.  Once she had finished changing and splashed some water on her face she knocked on the door. “Come in.”

She slipped in, glancing at Amon who was already dressed for bed and turning off the lights.  She lifted her tea, downing the headache medicine Bethai had given her.  The stuff still tasted horrible, but Amon would stare at her with piercing disappointed eyes if she didn’t drink it.  It was for her health.  Never mind that one of the reasons Orlang had been giving her tea was partly for headaches, though mostly for her dreams.  The only one that remained on was the dim one by their bed. Aita went and sat on the bed.  Amon was the one who slept with his back to the wall. 

“I hear that Luco knows who you were,” said Amon, sitting next to her and peeling off his inside shoes.  Aita nodded, and leaned against him, letting her good arm wrap around him. 

“I heard you didn’t want him to tell you,” said Aita softly bringing her mask against his neck. “Do you want me to take off my mask now?”

Amon sat still for moments that seemed to stretch on almost to eternity.  Finally he leaned forward and turned off the lamp. “I think we should sleep.  We’ll gather up your supplies soon.  Your cover is blown but I heard nothing through my normal spies.”

“My cover was not exposed, she was killed,” said Aita.  Amon slipped under the covers, carefully dragging Aita back with him.  She let herself be maneuvered.

“Many died that night.  The police have yet to give names, and those of the White Lotus-“ Amon trailed off.  Aita turned to him and put a hand on his arm.

“I have no problems telling you,” said Aita. 

Amon chuckled and slipped both their masks off enough to give her a chaste kiss.  He then put them back and dragged her back in his arms.  Aita carefully moved the knife under her pillow so it wouldn’t hurt her. 

“Sleep now, Spirit, we still have much we need to do.  There is little time for rest.”


	16. Trust

When Aita woke, it was not in the same place she had fallen asleep.  She quickly grabbed for her knife, but it wasn’t under her pillow.  Panic gripped her, but she was rolling out of bed before whoever was beside her figured out she was awake.  Her back protested as she tried to roll to her feet, and whoever had been by her side easily tackled her to the ground and overpowered her.  She tried to break free; she got an arm back and tried to hit his chi points.  She couldn’t do anything trickier pinned and hurting.

Aita stopped struggling abruptly, all her bones seeming to melt in her body as the fight went out of her and she stared up at Amon.  She stared up at him in confusion and tried to calm down her racing heart.  He watched her for a second then hurriedly got off her.  

Aita pushed herself up, and then almost slipped back on her back as her arm metaphorically screamed in pain and gave out on her.  She clutched at it, and Amon carefully held her up and brought her arm in front of her.  He pushed back the loose blue clothe of her pajamas to get at her scarred arm.  Aita winced as he looked over the tightly wound cloth Orland had wrapped to keep her arm relatively still.

“Shouldn’t this be plastered?” he asked.  Aita raised her eye brows.  She would have thought that Amon would have noticed when he slipped into bed with her that her was only wrapped.  He definitely should have noticed it while he was moving her.

“I need to be able to move it a little.  I am wanted criminal that if caught could be used to undermine you in many different ways,” said Aita before she purposely looked around the room.  Amon helped her stand and, instead of answering, started walking toward their door. “So, how did we get here?”

“We had to move last night.  I thought it might happen.  We didn’t keep your return as quiet as we should have, and the metalbending cops setup a raid last night.  Since you’re drugged, we were able to move you without waking you,” said Amon.  Aita stood, her still healing ankle a knat in her mind.  Her back was what really bothered her. 

“I was what?” she demanded, anger making her voice crack.  Amon stopped his hand on the doorknob.  He then turned toward her very deliberately.

“We thought it was important that you get a good night’s sleep so we used the drugs that Styles gave you.  You have irritable proof that they work now,” said Amon.  Aita knew she was shaking, her hands clenched into tight fists at her side.  Amon looked as if he was going to walk back to her and she stormed toward him, veering off to grab her clothes out of the drawer reserved for her things. “I have something planned for you tomorrow Spirit.  I need you to be at the best you can be.  You’re already at risk with the injuries you already sustained.  I know you didn’t get a good night’s sleep on a good day.  The drug was to help you be at your best to carry out your task for this war.”

Amon turned off the lights hurriedly as Aita started to change right there.  At least it made him shut up, or he was done with his speech.

“Do I sound rested to you?” snapped Aita.  Actually, she had spent most of the night confused.  She had been sure she was dreaming about the Spirit World, and yet had spent most of her time worrying about being found by any of the avatars past lives finding her.  The dream, in retrospect was too “real” to just be a dream, but thankfully existing in the Spirit World was almost like dreaming, so she wasn’t as tired as she could be.

“You sound pissed,” said Amon.  Aita stomped over to the lights and flicked them on herself.  She then turned to Amon, their eyes met. 

“No kidding.  You ever think maybe there’s a reason I haven’t taken things like that before?” she snapped.  Amon grabbed her hand before she could open the door.  She kept her eyes locked with his and then finally sighed and looked away. “Please Amon, sleeping drugs don’t always agree with me.  You keep slipping them into my tea and I won’t wake up.”

Amon tensed.  Aita almost felt guilty, but as far as she knew she was telling the truth.

“Just, this isn’t an allergy, not in the conventional way, and it’s not me being paranoid.  Please, trust me on this.  Did you talk to Orlang before you slipped it in my evening tea?” asked Aita pleadingly.  Amon just continued to stare at her before he let his hand fall back to his side. 

“No, sorry Spirit, I just wanted to help,” said Amon.  Aita nodded and the blanched.  Being a relationship with a person she idolized was weird.  She would have never thought to talk quite like that before they started sleeping together.  Amon chuckled and she glared up at him, half her vision blocked by her mask. “Would coffee help?”

Aita titled her head to the side inspiration struck and she opened the door to find three cups of coffee waiting for her.  She hurried over to them and jumped on Amon’s desk and took her first long draft of coffee, her mask pushed a little but still hiding her face.  Amon walked over, chuckling, and adjusted her mask a little.  Aita didn’t think that he saw enough to identify her, or if it would matter.  Aita could probably take off her mask and show him her face and until he drew it and showed it to someone like Lee, he still wouldn’t realize who she was.  The only time he’d seen her was when all his focus had been on her twin brother.  The only way he would know who she was, was if Aita had been thought of as important or dangerous enough to keep track of.  .

“I love whoever got this for me.  It’s thick and black, and I love them,” said Aita.  Amon grabbed the tip of her cup and laughed as she continued to try and take a sip of coffee. 

“What if I got you that coffee?” said Amon teasingly.  Aita pulled back on her coffee and took another long draft, never taking her eyes off of the equalist leader. “What if I want you to only love me?”

“Then get me coffee,” Aita advised and then narrowed her eyes playfully as he took one of her extra cups and started raise if as if to drink it. “And definitely don’t steal my coffee.”

Amon laughed and quickly gave her a kiss.  She smiled as she returned it.  They drew away, and Aita’s eyes were drawn the right side of Amon’s mouth where the lip had been scared badly.  The equalist leader quickly covered his face again with his mask, and it to placate her, he also carefully put Aita’s coffee back in its holder.  Aita put down the first cup.  She would have to keep drinking them quickly.  Best way not to let her stomach get full and the coffee was already cooled off from apparently sitting on Amon’s desk for awhile.  They had already cooled off before she started drinking. 

“So, I have to do something tomorrow?” Aita prompted.  Amon went for one of the side drawers of his desk and spread some papers, blueprints and plans, across the tabletop.  Aita glanced at them, but waited first for Amon’s explanation before giving them any real consideration. 

“We’re moving in on the academy,” Amon said gravely.  Aita paused with a mouthful of coffee and then slowly swallowed.

“The Beifong Metalbending Acedemy?” she asked.  Amon glanced at her and then nodded. “Right, I’m guessing you’re not going to be announcing this on the radio.”

“They should be expecting this.  The academy is one of the most influential tools the bdenders use to exclude and further suppress their nonbender brethren.  We’ve given them plenty of warnings.  Now it’s time to act,” said Amon. 

“This demonstration, it’s not like the other ones,” Aita pointed out.

“You heard the debriefing yesterday,” Amon said.  Aita nodded though some part of her was slightly silly after giving Amon a dressing down and took her to box his ears. 

“I heard that we still have a little while to go before we have all the support we need from other cities,” said Aita breathlessly. 

“They just need a push, and we’ve reached the ends of what we can accomplish here.  We keep this war only in Republic City and we will slowly be chipped away to nothing.  We take it over and we move onto the other cities.  They need a backbone,” said Amon.  Aita nodded, but had to admit, she was still uneasy about the whole thing.  The war for Republic City seemed to snowballing out of control, but that might just because she had a hurting ankle, a broken arm, and a back she was currently trying to ignore it into perfect working order again. 

“Alright, but I’m still not at one hundred percent, not close.  What can I do?” asked Aita. “I can hardly fight and that has nothing to do with how sleep deprived I am.”

“I need you awake so you’re able to keep yourself safe.  You’re not there to fight.  Lee and you are going in with as many of the best equalists as I can spare.  You are there to take as many of the trainees and trainers as you can.”

“Me?” asked Amon.

“You, just you.  Spirit, it’s time to strike the final nails into their coffins.  After this, they’ll call all their elders together and then the navy to come ‘save’ them,” said Amon.

“And when the navy comes, we have to show them our last Ace,” said Aita, finding herself nodding.  She forced herself to stop and then took a deep breath in.  The impulse to try and look into their future was almost overwhelming.  That wouldn’t help.  It would either worry or excite her without enough actual information to support it. 

“This is it Spirit. We’re going to start taking this world back and bring equality back to the world,” said Amon. “There are some things I need you to do today.  You know where Bethai takes that girl?”

“Sura, the rooted girl?” asked Aita.  Amon nodded distractedly, he started looking through his papers.

“Yes, you need to speak to their coordinator,” said Amon.

“Menlay,” Aita offered.  Amon looked back up at her. 

“Luco was right when he said that you really had an interest in helping the rooted,” said Amon.  Aita shrugged and looked away. “Is that the person you want to save?”

“It’s complicated,” said Aita evenly as she picked up the last coffee. “Do you want the information I gathered before I lost my cover?”

“No yet,” said Amon with a shake of his head. “Back to the rooted kids.  I promise once we’ve taken Republic City that while you heal you’ll have all the time you need to work this out.  I’ll help when I can spare the time.”

“You’re such a sweet boyfriend,” said Aita and brought their masks together with a slight click. “Thank you Amon.”

Though she failed to see how he could have free time when he was at war with the world. 

“After you’re done with that, meet me where I imprisoned Tarlock this afternoon.  We’ll talk more there,” said Amon.  Aita watched as he hunkered down over a piece of paper.  He was probably working on his big speech after they had won the first battle for Republic City.  She was obviously forgotten about.  But she still had half a cup of coffee left, no reason to leave.

“We think the bitch might be better off than their letting on,” said Lee as he stormed into the room, his own folder clasped in his arms.  Aita sipped at her coffee wondering when their revolution had started needing so much paperwork.  Aita had thought the only people who needed it was Bethai’s and Rebc’s people. 

“Who?” she asked.  Lee stopped and stared at her.

“Spirit is currently punishing me for drugging her,” Amon said with a suffering sigh.  This time Aita made sure to slurp the last bit of the coffee before slipping her mask all the way off again.

“Odd form of punishment,” said Lee. “Amon forget to get your consent before drugging you?” Aita just lounged back on the desk.

“I have time,” said Aita instead and Lee just shook his head and threw the folder onto the table.  Aita opened it, and Amon put his speech to the side and picked up some of the papers from the folders, apparently not needing the picture in Aita’s hand. Aita let her fingers trail down the picture of apparently who they were talking about. “Isn’t she a friend of yours?”

“Of my wife, know anything about her?” Lee asked.

“She hung out with the avatar and her friends.  Liked learning different bending styles, was learning about waterbending, from her grandmother.  Claims she rooted, but the entire thing is a little ridiculous if you ask me,” said Aita, there went her idea about taking off her mask and Amon not knowing who she was.  The picture in the equalists’ folder was extraordinary detailed.  Someone had somehow painted her either from memory, or she had missed someone sketching her who at most had been a couple of feet away. “What do you need to know?”

“How badly she’s hurt.  The avatar and their friends are saying she’s hurt badly, but we’re not sure if they’re exaggerating,” said Lee.

“You think her being connected to the Spirit World is dangerous?” Aita hazarded a guess. “Personally I think it sounds like a bunch of…”

“No, I’ve seen her in action.  She’s the real thing, and you’re right, that’s the problem.  Not only does she have a connection to the Spirit World, she’s also teaching the avatar how to access it, which means Korra might soon learn the avatar state, and after that how to fully unlock it,” said Amon. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I thought she died in a fire,” said Aita with a shrug. “And I saw their lesson.  Even if she’s the real deal, she’s a horrible teacher.  The avatar isn’t any closer to reaching the Spirit World or her past lives than when I first started observing her. She can hardly do basic meditation.”                                       

“That’s what Rat’s initial finding was,” said Lee. “And now she’s being evasive.”

“Well, that’s my cue,” said Aita, jumping off the table. “I’ll tell Rat everything you need to know since you’re too busy for it.”

Lee’s laughter followed her out of Amon’s room.  Aita wondered if she would have enough time to meet with Menlay and probably Rat and still have time to gather up some of her clothes from the few hiding spots she still had hidden around the city.  She really didn’t need them there anymore.  She greatly doubted she would be able to pretend to be a normal citizen anytime soon, or change into her other loose outer clothes or masks.  She might as well get them as soon as she could. 

Her comrades were working in the factory Amon had apparently moved her to.  Masked faces moving equipment and running chores.  They bowed slightly to her respectively while still keeping up with their respective jobs.  Aita paused a moment to look over the new weapon they were working on.  It was supposed to be like a slingshot or arrow sort of deal combined with a firework.  It didn’t required bending to make or use so she didn’t understand anything the equalist comrade was trying to tell her.  Aita wasn’t sure which inventor came up with it, but while it was useful and very deadly, it wasn’t very practical.  Yes, it was easy to move around, but did less damage than a canon.  Yet it took longer to put together and shot then an arrow.  Well, the old ones did this model was supposed to be creating ones that were more effective and easier to use.  Aita handed it back after a quick scan, she didn’t have time to give it a test run, though she would like to be one of the ones who got to play with it.

She then slipped down of the ladder to their sewer levels where most of the prisoners were kept and the main mains of transporting wares and materials.  A couple of the equalists looked up from their stations.  Aita nodded to a couple of guards before heading in the opposite direction to a thin tunnel with a more direct route to Menlay’s, well, the district she was in at least. 

“Spirit,” said Rat as she melted from the shadows to walk next to Aita. 

“Rat.  So which one of you is the proxy?” asked Aita teasingly.  Rat laughed.

“What’s to say that we aren’t both proxy’s?” Rat countered.  Aita shook her head and braced herself to start playing cat and rat.  Rat seemed to be particularly brutal in her questions that day.  Aita answered to the best of her ability while still trying to not give Rat an indication of who Spirit really was. Not that Aita thought keeping her identity was important.  Orlang had said only one other person who saw her was her most trusted nurse.  That didn’t mean that nurse wasn’t working for Rat, or was interrogated by Rat.  If not that, than Orlang’s practice wasn’t that secure, and it wouldn’t be that hard for someone to slip in unnoticed, especially if it was one of Orlang’s best informants. 

But the verbal sparring was fun, and if Rat did think it was important to be completely upfront during the debriefing than Aita trusted her to be upfront and tell her that’s what they were doing.  Well, maybe not upfront.  Rat wasn’t a woman who ever just came out and told a person what she wanted.  That’s not how she became their spy, but Aita was sure that if Rat wanted Aita to admit who she was, Aita would be telling Rat exactly what happened in her report instead of playing the game.  Not pretending to be some really creepy White Lotus in the background. 

“I was surprised to see Lee with your folders this morning,” said Aita.  They had stopped next to the stairs that led into the basement to Menlay’s, well, it was more this districts version of a gym.  The rooted met where yoga classes were held.  This part of the city wasn’t the most glamorous, though it could have been worse.  Menlay had always remarked that she they used to meet over a restaurant that was a front for a drug ring before Tenzin got involved. 

“Why?” asked Rat, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, looking up at the dank ceiling.

“I thought he’d finally lost his title as ‘spy master’ when you sent that other girl last night,” said Aita with a shrug.  Rat chuckled.

“He still has his uses, and no one actually believed he was the real spy master tp begin with,” said Rat.  Aita rolled her eyes.  No one was really supposed to believe that, but there was supposed to be at least a tingling of doubt.  People were supposed to look at Lee and then decide he was the front man, but then start questioning that belief because it was just so immediate.  Or something like that.  Lee had explained it once.  And Lee was the one who Rat talked to the most outside of Amon and Aita.  “He has a mind for information, and he’s decent at blending in with the population.”

Aita could believe that last part.  Lee had one of the most revealing masks out of all the elite equalists and yet he had lasted as a citizen until the childish bitch had handed over information on him and the rest of them. 

“Anything else you want me to take care of?” Aita asked.

“You’re cover is blown.  No more spying for you,” said Rat and then titled her head. “Well, no more spying out in the open anyway.  You’re half decent at keeping to the shadows.”

“I was better at hiding in plain sight,” Aita said truthfully.  Because no matter who had suspicions as to her allegiance, there was something about being rooted, about being the avatars granddaughter in the end, that made people drop their suspicion.  Even that assassin. 

“Well, I should get back to my work.  Need to inform my boss,” said Rat lightly, Aita was sure Rat would have winked at her if her eyes weren’t covered with glowing green goggles. “Oh, how are your lungs doing by the way?  I heard you had breathed in a little too much smoke while in that burning building.”

Aita didn’t move.  She didn’t twitch or tense, but the silence between Rat’s question and Aita’s answer.  The damage to her lungs had healed fast enough, somehow, that it wasn’t something Aita had even told Luco.  It had been the one thing that Luo hadn’t announced when he listed why the equalists should crowd Aita when they welcomed her back. 

“They’re doing great.  Thank you for asking,” said Aita and then turned to head up the stairs.  She couldn’t help but glance back toward where Rat had stood, but the equalist was gone.  So Rat knew, at least, Aita was pretty sure she did.  Unfortunately it wasn’t conclusive proof.

Menlay met Spirit with a hug, which Aita accepted mostly because she was used to it.  Menlay had a tendency to hug people she barely knew.  The woman then went onto detail exactly what she hoped to accomplish.  Aita shared what she thought Spirit would know after her few brief meetings with the rooted Bethai had brought her.  She tried to sound like someone who had met a rooted person but didn’t quite understand what it was like to be completely oblivious to the world but still responsive in body.  Menlay went into great detail; actually they spent more time discussing the reasons and particular traits and theories on those who were rooted, then on making time the next week where Aita could meet with Menlay’s group for long periods of time to figure out some way to rid them of their burden.

Distractingly, the radio was playing in the background.  Her brother would often play music at down periods at their job, or when something interesting was happening and he wanted to keep up to date.  But the discordant music of their generation that played around with dancing metallic, brass that repeated itself into infinity with every single repeated blast of the musicians instruments that left the same taste as blood in Aita’s mouth.  It wasn’t that Aita hated music, or that she hated the music of her generation, is was just annoying how it sucked her in.  The music wasn’t good, but every time she heard it, it was like what she dreamed being drunk would actually feel like, her body just started to sway and her head became fuzzy.  She wouldn’t slip into the Spirit World, actually, with music playing it was hard to slip into the Spirit World.  Instead she was caught between where everything was fuzzy, her vision, the rules, morals, caring.  It all just sort of slipped off her shoulders and both world and her values became a blur.

Aita tried to concentrate on Menlay and keep up with what the woman was telling her while Aita tried to keep from swaying and letting her mind float to the wind.  Thankfully the thing wasn’t playing too loudly.  Music was known to help rooted people, well, calm them down.  Some people said it almost seemed like those who were rooted became more present while listening to the scratchy tunes, and Aita could admit that it could have been true, and she enjoyed listening to the music sometimes.  Maybe she wasn’t a fan, but she didn’t hate it, and letting herself just drift without the fear of falling into the Spirit World was nice. It also helped ease her headaches. 

Eventually, Aita had to cut off her old supervisor with excuses why she had to leave.  Aita promised Spirit would be back to see Menlay as soon as she could.  Menlay continued to follow her, saying goodbye, but obviously wanting to keep talking.  One thing about Menlay’s job was that most of the colleagues who worked with rooted groups actually believed that rooted people were perfect the way they were and didn’t need to be cured.  Forget the fact that anyone rooted was defenseless and was often considered a liability to their relatives.  They were a gift and had something the rest of the world only dreamed of.  It wasn’t surprising Menlay would stalk someone who thought that that mentality was a bunch of rubbish, and while the woman might not think benders were evil or corrupted by their ability to bend, but she cared about the rooted who she firmly believed should be freed from the cage in the element their minds had been stuck in.

As a result, Aita was a little late getting to Amon.  The building Tarlock was kept in was surprisingly out in the open.  Not that anyone noticed her coming in.  It wasn’t somewhere a lot of people entered into, and not a lot of equalists were positioned to guard him.  Aita had been surprised by that.  While Tarlock was defenseless now that Amon had removed his bending, there was something about the man that made Amon, well; odd was the best term Aita could think of to describe it.  But she thought it was important to Amon that Tarlock remained with them, their prisoner, not Republic City’s.  

Amon was staring out tinted windows when Aita entered.  She glanced to where Tarlock was kept behind generic metal bars in a wooden room.  Not so long ago it would have been simple for him to free himself.  He wasn’t even bound.  If he was still able to blood bend, well, he wouldn’t have stayed in his prison long. 

Aita glanced at Amon, but he continued to stare out into whatever was eating his mind.  Aita didn’t know if he hadn’t heard her enter, or if he was ignoring her for his thoughts.  Aita looked back at Tarlock, wondering if he had something to do with the raid on the Academy the next day.  What sort of man was he that made it seem okay for him to bloodbend?  What had pushed him to learn bloodbending?  Aita knew why one of her past lives had fallen to bloodbending, revenge.  She had seen it the last time she had seen this man.  Was he motivated by revenge like she had been. 

She sighed, let her mind slip a little, and looked.  One life, one close to the surface caught her and spun into her mind and made its nest.  Aita tore herself away, her gaze riveted to Tarlock’s as he stared in confusion up at her.  Aita took a hesitant step forward as his past played as a continuous run in her mind. _I was never angry with you.  I was sad because I was afraid you’d lost your way._   So lost, so caught up in his own guilt.  In him, she saw the potential of greatness, of peace and great understanding.  But not in this lifetime, because his peace, it required him to be able to hold up and learn from tragedy, to learn from great emotion, great betrayal, great loss, great love, great happiness.  Tarlock’s soul, it changed and responded with great…

“Revelations,” she whispered.  Tarlock looked at her in confusion and it was then that Aita realized Amon had come to stand next to her.  She continued to stare at Tarlock.  He buzzed in that way that people who had or were connected to temples did.  The way Tenzin did.  He was fainter, not so devoted, maybe having put that life behind him as well as he could.  But it still stained his soul, still dictated some of his beliefs and practices. 

“I wish to tell you about myself,” said Amon gravely.  Aita glanced his way, holding her arms against a sudden chill. “Tarlock is my brother.”

Aita gasped in surprise.

“Our father was Yakone.  A famous villain that used bloodbending against his enemies and had his power stripped by the avatar,” said Amon, his eyes never meeting Aita’s. “With the help of his gang, he had his face changed and he went to the south water tribe.  There he met my mother and had me.  For a time it was peaceful, and after a while I had a little brother, Tarlock.  Sweet and gentle, I used to look after him.  He was prone to clumsiness and so sensitive to everything I often acted like he was more mine than my parents’.  I loved him, and then one day he waterbent. 

“I was so happy at first.  It was new and exciting and the only I regretted was that  I couldn’t teach him the ropes like I always had,” Amon took a deep breath in and Aita glanced at Tarlock, who head was bent and his eyes wide. “But then my baby brother got sent away.  We had a temple nearby that served to teach the local waterbenders whose parents wanted their kids to someday be more than a local water boy.  He was sent there and my father refused to allow me to see him.  Back then, it was bad enough that I not only lost my brother to his studies, but also my father.  He had never been overly affectionate, there was also something he seemed to be keeping to himself, something in his past he wanted to keep us safe from, but after Tarlock left, he became worse.  He no longer talked to us and he would disappear for long periods of time.  I suppose while he forbade us from seeing Tarlock, he allowed himself the privilege.”

Tarlock flinched and glanced up at his brother briefly.  Aita hugged herself tighter.  She wanted to comfort Amon, but she didn’t know if it was the right time.  She would at least allow him enough time to get to the difficult part of his story before she did anything. 

“For years I wondered what drove my father, what had happened to my brother.  I heard nothing of Tarlock from other waterbenders, and my own father, while becoming more and more jaded and secretive, also became more obsessed.  And then one day he came back defeated and shaking.  He refused to tell my mother and me what happened and then one day he passed away.  I got to see my brother again, but only for a second, and he was changed.  There was something sadder about him, something angry.  He refused to speak to my mother and me.  It broke my mother’s heart.

“And then they came.  A mix of bending pirates that invaded our home looking for the treasures that were said be stored in the waterbending temple.  They destroyed everything in their way.  The town was torched and it was only through luck I was able to keep our mother safe as long as I did, but I couldn’t save her in the end.  I found out later that the waterbender masters stayed within their temple to safeguard their treasures.  A few came to help us, including my brother, but they had to sneak past the rest of their order made out too late to save the city.  By the time they had found us my mother was already gone and despite the little I had learned of chi blocking, my face…”

“I tried,” said Tarlock.  Aita looked back down on him and noticed that tears were streaming down his face. “You don’t have the whole story Noatak.  Our father, he forced me to learn bloodbending.  After I learned the basics in waterbending, he got the temples permission to take me out on ‘hunting’ trips.  He taught me bloodbending.  I hated it.  I could see the pain in the eyes of any animal I used it on.  He told me that the reason I had been born was to go back to Republic City and avenge him.  To take it back and kill the avatar.  I should have done something then, told the waterbending elders about him.  Told them I had found Yakone.  But he was my father, and I was a coward.”

Amon said nothing.  Tarlock was now looking up at him with tears in his eyes.  Aita looked down on him.

“Please brother.  I’m sorry I couldn’t save mother.  I’m sorry I couldn’t heal you.  I tried, but the damage was to extensive for my knowledge of healing and then you disappeared,” said Tarlock. “I left that place behind me.  I can never forget it, but you have to stop this Noatak.  I know I wasn’t a good brother to you, but you were always good to me.  Please, listen, by doing this you’re only following in our father’s footsteps.  Don’t make my mistake.”

“Bending is what changed you brother,” said Amon, “and I will be rid of it so no one will know the pain again of betrayal.  Waterbending made you self-righteous, as it made the other members of the temple believe their relics were more important than their people.  It is my destiny to rid this world of benders and bring equality to our world.”

Amon turned from his brother.  Tears flowed down Tarlock’s face he looked at his brother beseechingly.  _Is it your own destiny?  Or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?_   The worlds rocked back and forth in Aita’s head.  They were from Tarlock’s past life, but Aita didn’t know why they held such strength.  She brought a hand to her head.

A second later Tarlock fell back with a cry.  Aita’s eyes sprang open to look down on the writhing man.  She wondered what he had said to Amon to irritate her leader so.  But Amon was already leaving.  She quickly turned to follow him, Tarlock’s cries following them as they left his prison. 

“Are you alright?” she asked, coming over and placing her hand on Amon’s shoulder.  He grabbed it and turned to her.  His breath was harsh and wet, as if he’d must been running.  Aita was sure that if she looked under his mask, she would see tears falling. 

Amon slipped off his mask.  Aita’s muscles tensed as she looked upon him.  A face that she had only seen with her hands and lips.  It wasn’t pretty.  There were hints of features that if they hadn’t been scared and mangled by fire would have made him a very handsome and distinguished man.  But Aita couldn’t even tell Amon’s real age with how bad the scarring was.  Amon looked away from her, Aita didn’t know what he saw through her mask in her eyes but with a shaking hand she reached up to him.  She let her fingers explore his face, dancing lightly over the scars until her good arm wormed around his neck.

“I love you.  No matter your past or parents,” she assured him quietly.  Amon loosely returned her hug.

“And what if I was a waterbender?” he challenged.  She shook her head and buried her face into his shoulder.

“Then I would take it away from you.  You are too precious to me to let something that evil corrupt you,” Aita assured.  Amon wrapped her into a tighter hug, his arms winding around her with such force that it squeezed the air from her and jostled her arm.  But despite the pain she let him hold on.  He needed this.  She needed this.  She trusted Amon with her ideals, with her life, and with her love.  She would do anything to make their vision a reality.  It would all begin, for real, tomorrow, but for now there was only the two of them.  With things so uncertain, Aita knew she would have to find a way to make what could be there last true few hours together convey everything they might not get the time to tell each other in the future. 


	17. Mind Games

Waking up in weird, heart pounding situations seemed to be a new thing.  This one, admittedly, she didn’t mind, even if she had to consciously take her hand off the knife she stored under her pillow.  She looked up at Amon who was leaning over her, with legs kneeling on either side of her hips.  Aita hadn’t had the energy to do more than wrestle on a breast band and slacks the night before, so she wasn’t wearing her usual pretty conservative pajamas.  She was starting to think maybe she should wear less more often.  Her back ached a little, but not badly, and Amon’s hands rested on her shoulders, his thumbs brushing where her two chest bones met.

They stared at one another for what felt like at least five minutes.  Aita didn’t mind, after her heart slowed down her mind started drifting a little.  She was careful not to look into his pasts, she wasn’t interested and she really didn’t want to know his progression, faults, what he’d done as a bender.  Finding out what she had done was bad enough.  The life as a thief wasn’t that far from her mind and neither was the bloodbender.  Worse was if Amon turned out to be perfect. 

Amon finally leaned over and turned to shutoff the oil lamp by their bed.  She then felt a chaste kiss on her shoulder before Amon rolled mostly off her and settled next to her to go back to sleep.  Aita stared up at the darkened ceiling for a minute before pushing away Amon’s arms and rolled out of the bed.  The raid still wasn’t until later in the day; though, because Amon apparently thought they were suicidal, it was taking place in the middle of the day. 

“Spirit,” said Amon with a sigh.  Aita pushed his hand away and walked away from the bed.  She heard him sigh but hoped he would stay down.  He was starting to get on her nerves with the whole sleeping thing.  Her brother had never done more than get irritate because her tossing and turning kept him up, and he was more likely to sigh in relief when she finally went to sit on the floor when they were younger. 

“I’m going to meditate,” she said instead, crossing the room to give Amon some privacy, well, mostly so she could concentrate. 

“You’re supposed to guard me,” Amon said with a yawn. “And I doubt you want the rest of the chi blockers when you’re dressed like that.”

Aita had to freeze at that.  Amon had a point on both accounts.  She was here partly because she was his guard.  Aita didn’t sleep deeply, and Amon usually did.  Actually, Aita guessed that if this continued between them then she would easily be able to spend half her nights slipped out of his arms trying to meditate, or even going over some her books.  Maybe she could start on the reading list that she always meant to get to but never ‘found the time’, partly because she wasn’t that good at reading.  Only three years in grammar school will do that.  Well, three years of conscious attendance anyway. 

Aita considered putting on a couple more layers on.  They could be attacked by assassins again.  Aita would rather not be chased, or chase, Menlock through the city again in her pajamas.  For one thing, if given a good detail of her scars, her brother might be able to identify her.  Aita might have hidden most of her recent scars she’d acquired as well as she could.  But she couldn’t change completely in the dark when they had so few rooms in the house.  Shame wasn’t something that came easily to her family anymore.  Sota knew all her old ones.  The one Orlang wouldn’t shut up about that cut under her breast.  Then there was the new one on her shoulder.  The breast band didn’t cover either of those marks.  Aita would only have to hope that Menlock was truly incompetent or was distracted by the other scars that littered her body.

Amon had fallen back asleep when she walked back to the bed.  His breath evened out.  Aita wondered what had woken him.  She had assumed that he was interested in a little late night fun, but apparently something else had prompted him to roll over her.  Aita traced where his fingers had been on her shoulder and neck.  Had he woken from a nightmare?  But Aita thought she would wake up if Amon was thrashing about.  But, then again, Aita was surprised that Amon had been able to get over her like he had before she woke up.

Maybe the drugs were still affecting her, or maybe it was her body using too much energy to try and heal itself.

Aita let her mind focus, her thoughts slowly narrowing in on itself.  First letting it explore the room, then her body, until she was counting her breaths.  It was easy to focus, eventually her mind started to wander, but she pulled it back easily, passing through some of the thoughts that jumbled in clumps and sprints in her mind before she settled back to her own body, to how she drew in and released each breath.  And then she let her mind slip deeper. 

Aita didn’t truly open her eyes again until she heard movement in the study next to their room.   She unrolled her body, her bones cracking as she straightened out and work feeling back into them.  Meditation often seemed to take moments for her, no longer how long she was actually was there.  She usually measured it by how much she got done, though that that usually didn’t work very well either. 

Aita ambled over and looked through the door to where a boy, maybe fourteen, with only a red scarf to hide his identity stood with coffee.  She was guessing he wasn’t a chi blocker. 

“You could knock on our door,” said Aita, folding her arms and leaning against the doorframe. “Otherwise the coffee gets cold.”

The boy turned around sharply and then took a couple of steps away from Aita until he hit the desk.  Aita bit back a laugh.  But the boy just continued to stare at her.  Actually, his eyes seemed to be glued to her general chest, midriff area.  She looked down.  Right.

“I’ll go get dressed,” said Aita with a shake of her head.  She closed the door away from her.  Amon was still fast asleep when she had gotten ready.  Her mouth tasted like mint, and it would ruin the coffee a little.  Aita leaned over and pushed her mask to the side, and his, and gave him a kiss.  He hardly reacted at first, and Aita pulled back, ready for her fix.  Amon caught her around the waste and pulled her back on the bed.  She squeaked and had to do some maneuvering to make sure her broken arm wasn’t jostled.  Amon had pushed their masks almost completely away. 

Aita laughed and pushed him away.  Rolling off the bed as she did.

“My coffees getting cold,” she told the tangled Amon as she walked out the door.  She heard Amon curse softly behind her and giggled.  Thankfully the boy wasn’t there.  She jumped on the desk and grabbed her first cup of coffee.  Aita wondered what he had heard.  Though the boy had probably beaten a hasty retreat after Aita had disappeared to get dressed.  Depending on the boy, and what kind of friends he had, her little jaunt without a shirt would be all over the rumor mills by the time the raid started, or Aita would never hear of it again.  She really didn’t care, the worst had happened when she chased that earthbending assassin through the streets half naked.  How that idiot hadn’t had a detailed description or at least her more prominent scars. 

Amon strolled in.  He glared at her and she held out a cup to him.

“This is not coffee,” she said before returning to her own beverage. Amon just shook his head. 

“You drink too much of that sludge,” said Aita. 

“It’s what keeps me awake,” said Aita happily and then sighed when Amon gave her a disapproving look. “It’s also what keeps me happy.”

“We need to start organizing soon,” said Amon.

“What are you going to be doing while I infiltrate and take metalbenders powers?” asked Aita.  Amon just looked at her.  Aita laughed. “Are you going to do to keep things from me even after we’ve taken control?”

“Republic City is just one place.  A milestone, yes, but we’ll have more to contend with the world once we take it over,” said Amon.  Aita nodded and then rocked back a forth. 

“I meant when we had gained control of the world,” said Aita. She let her legs swing back and forth a couple of times before she looked back at Amon and went for her cup. “We have to do something about the avatar.”

“I have a plan,” said Amon. 

“It’s not just that.  When you take her bending, she’s still going to be the avatar.  She’s still going to be the bridge and have all those past lives and all her dedication to trying to trying to find a cure for what we did for her, and if there is anyone who can figure out how to restore bending to those we take it from.  It’ll be the avatar,” said Aita.  Watching him over her cup of coffee. 

“I have a plan, trust me Spirit,” said Amon, letting his hand trail over her masked cheek.  She rolled her eyes.  She’d let Amon have his secrets, at least for now.  Aita didn’t really have any right to get angry with people in her life keeping secrets considering her own tendency towards secrets.  Still, it would be nice to know that Amon wasn’t keeping something important from her.  She wanted to know if he planned on killing the avatar, which would be stupid.  A quick fix that in the end could give hope to the benders.  It would be pointless to make his mark against the benders by taking the avatar, only to give them a fully working one a couple of days to weeks later when she was reborn. 

Aita headed out of their room before Amon did.  She headed down the steps with a slight jump.  Some of the gossiping equalists stopped as she entered the gym.  It was about half past ten by then.  It had taken some time to get through the tunnels.  A little disturbance by the metalbending cops.  Aita was glad they were going to strike back.  Striking the Metalbending School would strike more of a victory than one would think.  On one hand, they were only trainees and old metalbenders, or ones who needed a break from the field.  On the other hand, they were a backbone, and if things worked out right, a good chunk of half the metalbending cops would lose their bending that day. 

She ignored some giggling chiblockers and picked up some grub that always in bulk supply around the training grounds.  Dou smiled and waved her over before Aita went to hide in her shadows.  A couple of equalists looked her way.  Most were going to join her in the raid, but a couple only wore scarves and were probably going to have to hold steady.  Aita came and sat beside Luco who gave her a dirty look as she sat on the corner of the table.  She crossed her legs and passed her pastry and cheese to Lee who stood with the same straight back he always did.

Aita listened with half an ear to the plan.  She was to keep out of the way until they had the inside safe enough, and then a dozen equalists would stay with her so she could remove the students’ bending.  The rest would keep the rest of the cavalry at bay until it was done.  Aita knew that her part would be more difficult than it sounded, especially if some group of benders were able to break their wall.  Her orders were strict. She was to stay and continue removing bending until every last one had lost his bending.  If someone escaped, she was to hunt them down and remove it wherever they settled, which could end up being the air temple island, as far as she knew.

She was in the fifth group to leave the room.  Unlike before, she didn’t lead, but instead she was in the middle of the fray.  Protected from any immediate attacks.  By now it was clear they knew Spirit was alive.  Though Amon had hinted that there were rumors questioning if she was the real one or not.  They wondered if Spirit really as only one person, or multiple girls with different skills.  One of which was his lover.  There was talk that it was his lover they had caught, since the girls had been rather stupid to be walking out in clear sight with her mask and had been so easily caught and killed.  Aita thought that the fact she had to be all these different girls was a bit flattering. 

The tracks stopped soon enough, and they were walking.  The paths had already been cleared of their watchers by the time her groups made it past them.  They encountered some fun when they reached the school.  Some of the younger students were trying to run.  Children the same age as the one who delivered Aita’s coffee that morning attacked.  Aita didn’t bother with anything fancy.  She didn’t have quite the ability with her arm in tight wrap and her back still stinging her, that and being surrounded by so many equalists so careful to keep her safe. 

She turned on one girl who got close to her, pride and hope in the young girl’s eyes.  She obviously knew who Spirit was.  Aita caught her between the eyes and with a release of her breath the girl collapsed, the young metalbenders bending forcefully cutoff from her.  Aita allowed a little wince of pain as a headache blossomed.  These benders would not be like Luco who was easy to take because he rejected and hated his bending.  They would drive her into the Spirit World in no time, if she allowed the headaches to get the best of her. 

The school was a mess when they entered.  Aita caught any who tried to escape, quickly using any tricks she knew to get them in the right position to take their bending.  It wasn’t long before her guard seemed to have forgotten her and moved to help their comrades.  Only one returned to her while she fought.  Their eyes met and she tried to keep from glaring at him and nodded her head.  She was forced to keep most of her attacks simple.  All of them fast and all rooted in chi blocking that had less useless moves then using any bending moves. 

The training grounds were littered with unconscious bodies by the time they were done.  A couple were dead.  Aita had a bit of blood on her hands, though known of her victims seemed to be dead, yet.  Though their bending was gone.  The eqaulists close to her helped to tie them all together as she hogtied them.  The rest were put in a line, the equalists divided so they could keep them from bending. 

Most went out to watch for the reinforcements that would be coming to help the students.  One equalist was to keep an ear to their communications.  If the chief was an idiot he would send most of his men, and they would have to retreat.  If he was smart than he would plan on Amon using the school as a diversion.  Of course, this attack was probably a distraction, from whatever Amon had planned for himself that day, but it was also the kick off, after this they really started their war. 

Aita breathed in sharply as she took another metalbenders bending.  She was starting to get to the end of the line.  If she had enough time, then she would start combing through the dojo looking for any bender who tried to hide in the corners.  She closed her eyes and took the last persons bending.  She let out a shaky breath and tried to casually walk away to start her search, but her vision blurred and she stumbled to the side.  One of the equalists helped her to sit down.  They were probably wondering what was wrong with her.  Amon didn’t keep headaches like this. 

A cry split the air.  The only overly dramatic scream that came from metalbending cops when they felt they were doing something truly meaningful and felt they had the upper hand. Aita smiled and then stood, giving signals for the equalists to ‘guard’ the metalbenders and keep them gagged.  Aita was going to see about making herself scarce.  The moment the avatar saw her was when this part of the fame was over.  The metalbenders would divide their attention if they thought there was a chance that their comrades still had their bending.  Some people it would hone their abilities, but for more it would act as a distraction and change their goals from defeating the equalists, to getting their men out of harm’s way. 

The avatar would know better when she saw Spirit was there.

Aita’s heart beat a pace faster as she listened to the battle muffled by walls.  All she wanted to do was get in that fight.  It would be easy enough to stay, but every muscle in her wanted her to go up and be a part of that fight. 

Something crashed to her right and Aita found herself molding into the shadows as six forms, hardly concealed by the shadows entered through what looked like the boiler room.  Aita find her smiling. 

“Careful Bolin,” hissed Mako.

“Sorry,” Bolin said, well, he tried to whisper, but being quiet had never been the big boys strong suite.  She crept behind them.  She wasn’t going to attack them.  Not yet at least.  Mako, Bolin, Asami, and Sato might be easy enough, when she was at her best.  The shadows were her area of expertise.  Add Mako’s fire that flashed so pretty that if kept everyone from adjusting to the darkness.  However, add the ex metalbending chief and the avatar and Aita would be hard pressed to take one of them at her best.  Even in her element. 

And then they split up. Aita missed the signal, or they just all decided as a group to take different routes.  Bolin and Mako headed from where Aita had come from.  Asami and the ex chief seemed to actually be going backwards, and Korra and Sota took a left into some room.  Aita waited a spell before following her brother.  She had no idea why they split up, or if one of them were a trap.  But, how would they know she was there?  Unless Bolin tripping had been part of the plan to attract attention.

Aita shook her head before slipping through the door, careful not to touch the door since it was half opened and squeaked when the avatar had practically ripped the door off its hinges.  Both the avatar and her brother were close to the door, scanning the room.  It was filled with sand with a small running pool and candles.  Only one was lit. 

Aita dodged forward and hit her brother hard enough to knock him out and then with the same hand grabbed him and tossed his dead weight out the door.  A wave of sand slammed her against the door.  Aita wheezed and wriggled her way from the constant attack, though she pulled her arm more than she should.  The slam, had closed the door and sent pain coursing through her body. 

The avatar glared at her.  Aita kept light on her feet, never keeping completely still as the avatar seemed to be unconsciously moving the sand under their feet.

“What’s wrong with your arm?” asked the avatar.  Aita raised an eyebrow.  Korra might be a little bit of a thug, but she could be observant when she wanted to. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

Aita cocked her head to the side but didn’t answer.  She couldn’t really risk talking in front of the avatar, not even in a whisper.  She took a few deep breaths and relaxed her hold on her mind, letting her thought bounce more freely and to start slipping away.  Her headache eased, but her sight blurred to a slight green.  But unlike when she did this when she was younger, the avatar did not fade to a ghost in her eyes.  She turned a slight shade of blue, but she was as clear as ever.  The sand lit up, though the candles and water seemed to disappear, and she had to consciously remind herself of the layout of the room that she had seen in the poor light.

The avatar huffed and the white essence that played in her vision gripped at the avatars outer movements resonated within the essence of the sand.  Pulling and manipulating it until the sand worked to her will.  Aita followed the movement.  Her back screamed along with her arm, but she gritted her teeth and worked through it.  Moving to a classic earth bender status.  Hard, best case scenario she would keep on her toes to avoid the sand.  But Aita liked messing with other people’s minds, and if she could pull this off it would be worth the headache of not being a main part of the fight.

The avatar glared at her in confusion and made the sand spin under Aita’s feet.  Aita dug in and threw her arms out harshly, all elbows.  The sand on her feet stopped and Aita pushed herself forward.  Korra brought some of the sand up as a shield, dragging almost all of it from the floor in the process.  There was actually only a half a room worth with hardly a quarter of an inch layer. 

Their arms tangled and Aita bit back a scream of pain as she struck out with her foot, compromising her balance, but moving faster than the avatar and kicking her back into the floor.  She then twisted and picked up the water bowl and tossed it in the benders face before putting it back in place to catch was left of the cycling water. 

“Thank you,” said the avatar with a hard smile, the water crystallizing around her arm.  Aita quickly slipped into the darkness of the room.  Korra tracked her and then first through a wall of sand.  Aita let her body take the impact, sand clinging to her hair and making her ridiculously uncomfortable.  For one, if the avatar was creative she could make Aita really hurt with those little grains of earth.  She brought up her broken hand to catch the water, it instantly froze around it.  The hard cold bite making her wince.  Now came the tricky part.  The avatar was already running at her, ready to knock her back or knock her out.  Aita held her ground and then took in a deep breath as she brought both arms shakily forward and her fist curled as the water melted off of it and fell to the floor.

Aita met Korra and used the big girl’s weight against her as she sent the teen flying into the door.  Aita danced back, and she couldn’t help the little bursts of laughter that kept her giggling and dancing from foot to foot.

She pushed the mind a little far when she threw the candle, but it felt good when it appeared that she threw the fire to either side of her.  It was useful that a lot of the ways a bender protected themselves from harm, were the ways the body might automatically try to do when faced with the attack. 

They were thrown in the dark and Aita listened as the way avatar breathed in deeply.  Aita herself tried to control her pain, push it to the side where she wouldn’t have to think about it.

“There’s no way you can bend all the elements,” Korra said disbelievingly after a few minutes. “Amon wouldn’t trust you for one thing.”

Aita snorted in laughter, not able to keep it in.  She could tell Korra it was all in her head, but that would break the trick.  Aita needed her to believe it somewhere, even if the more logical part of her mind told her that it was impossible.  That was the fun thing about what she was doing.  It was all in her head what she was doing.  She could make anyone believe that she was bending, but to make a bender do the bending for her. Now that was something Aita had only dreamed of ever doing.  It was thrilling, the amount of control and ability to trick the mind.  She certainly had improved since she had first met Amon and joined his cause. 

“Who are you?  Why did you save me?” demanded the avatar.  Aita stayed silent, carefully keeping to the opposite side of the darkened room, as they circled one another.  Korra was tensed, head moving from side to side.  Unlike Aita, she was completely blind. “Why are you doing this?”

Aita wondered if Korra actually thought she would answer, or what Korra wanted Aita to say.  Spirit wasn’t known for pulling her punches, but that didn’t mean the avatar wouldn’t underestimate her.  What did Spirit accomplish in front of her or that really appeared to affect Korra.  She failed in her attempt to kill Tenzin.  A point against her, but she’s seen as incompetent.  She returned Korra to her family.  She fought against Tarlock and the avatar, but it was to free her comrads and she ran with help.  So she freed her comrads but had to be saved herself.  She brought Korra back to her family after her ordeal with Tarlock.  A confused point to her, though she was working under Amon’s orders.  After she had been found sleeping with Amon and chased his would be assassin through the streets.  To Korra this was only gossip, but it probably meant something.

“Why are you in league with Amon?” Korra asked, something slammed into the wall behind Aita.  The equalist turned to look behind her.  She was right in front of the door, and it was light with white essence that lit up the door. She took a step to the side as the door flew in.  Aita ran, her vision was still blurred, and her movements based on the energy flowing through the bodies around her.  She was guessing one was the chief since metalbending had moved that door.

And then to add to Amon’s ‘Spirit is incompetent’ idea, Aita ran into a wall.  Full out, ran into the opposite wall.

Aita forced herself not to swear as she tried to bring her mind back to the moment.  But all she felt was a tug on her mind to slip the other way.  Two bodies brushed against her and someone hands circled around her arm.  Aita struck out, trying to hit their chi points but she was still tugged and manipulated.  She could tell someone was trying to say something, but she didn’t start fighting until one of them hit one of her chi points. 

By the time she was conscious again they were on the tracks again, probably heading home.  Lee was with her, running a hand over her head.

“Sorry,” she muttered. 

“Amon warned us about the headaches,” said Lee. “Unless you’re sorry for taking on the avatar than we have something to talk about.”

“I tried to stay out of the fight,” said Aita, letting her body sink again Lee.  She winced as her arm flared in pain. 

“Sure you did,” said Lee indulgently. “We’re still taking you to see Orlang.  Someone said you were so disorientated you ran into a wall.”

Aita groaned and buried her head into his chest. “I’m never going to live that down.”

The chi blockers in their cart with them laughed.  Aita was glad when they got out and Lee escorted her, with the equalists acting as their guard, to where Orlang was helping to patch up all the equalists who were hurt from the battle.  She had many comrades who were in much worse condition so Aita was carted to one of the many benches, given some fruity tea and told to wait her turn.  She then forced Lee to leave so he could do whatever he was supposed to. 

However he did leave her guard with her.

Eventually Aita folded her legs and meditated, concentrating on bringing her mind back to the real world again.  She let her mind wander and when Orlang finally did put a hand on her shoulder.  She let herself be led away, and Orlang was able to chase away her guards as she led Orlang to an empty room. 

She painfully checked over her back first, which was worse, but not bad apparently.  She then yelled at her over the state of her arm, which now had a fracture on it.  And more but Aita stopped listening.  It was bad enough that she got headaches from existing within the Real World.  She didn’t need headaches other ways too.  Especially when she had just gotten rid of her last migraine.

“Well, hopefully this will be the last big thing Amon will ask you to do in a while.” Aita looked at the woman like she was insane.

“Orlang has a point,” said Lee as he entered Orlang’s study where Orlang always looked over Spirit when she hurt herself and didn’t just go right to her practice. “The work now is more direct.  The most we’re doing is kidnapping the councilors as they leave for their meeting tomorrow morning, and you’re in no condition to help there.”

“Has the navy been called?” Aita asked.  Lee nodded.

“Mr. Sato said they’re ready, and that the mines and planes are in place and ready for deployment,” said Lee.  Aita nodded.

“You’re heading out tomorrow to take air temple island?” she asked.  Lee grimaced and nodded.

“The idea is to use our next step as a distraction to at least capture Tenzin and his children.  I go in with a small group at first, followed by two zeppelins.  But there’s so much that can go wrong.”

“There’s a lot that can go wrong with all of this,” Aita pointed it out.  She tapped her fingers to the side.  She met Amon’s eyes as the man entered the room. “I want to join Lee tomorrow.  I have a backup plan in case your first one falls through.  Or is taking the little airbenders powers not that important as you made it?”

Amon tried to stare her down and Amon held his eyes while she kept a small smile.  Not that he could see it. 

“Try to stop from hurting yourself, and I want you there when I take their bending. If the avatar’s there we might be able to speed things up and be ready with her as our prisoner before the admirals backup shows up,” said Amon.  Aita nodded and smiled when he came and rested his head against hers. 

“The war has begun,” Aita whispered.

“Equality is within our grasps.  All we need is the conviction and strength to carry it through,” Amon whispered.  Aita felt a smile split her lips.  The next few days were going to be the beginning of the end for all benders and setup the basis for their eventual purging of the war. Soon benders would be a thing of the past, and their tyranny and oppression gone.  Aita knew that it wouldn’t solve all the world’s problems.  But at least the playing field would be equal.  At least people wouldn’t have to live in constant fear of bending gangs and the various ways they could kill you and then bend the law to their will. 

Now was a time of change.  Aita could feel it.  Even the Spirit World seemed testy, waiting for their next move.  Aita was sure it was going to be the right one.    


	18. Ghost

Aita sat in zeppelin, foot tapping in the air as she carefully kept her head down.  They were slowly approaching Air Temple Island with the zeppelin.  Aita was just worried.  Not about the attack, though there were a thousand variables that could go wrong.  Instead, something Amon said was starting to bother her.  Aita thought it would make sense to start going through their ranks looking for someone who would be able, like Amon, to take bending.  It seemed silly to think that they would only need the two of them taking bending.  Aita should find another comrade for her to teach.  Actually, she should see about bringing in select equalists from their big supporters to also teach one or two of their members.  But Amon had shot her down.  Fast.  She tried to explain why they needed more people who could remove bending.  It didn’t make sense for only them to know, not in the long run.  But Amon had refused, he’d actually yelled at her.

Aita sighed and rolled her shoulders.  She needed to concentrate.  The closer they got to the island, the more her mind needed to stay focused on the job.  She didn’t have room to daydream, not when they were at such a delicate and crucial moment.  Sure, Aita in an ideal world Aita wasn’t going to be needed, she would hide in the shadows and help celebrate and keep their victory.  The actual chance Aita would be needed was slim.

Still, things had a tendency to blow up in their face when airbenders were concerned, well, half the time anyway.  And Aita was afraid that her comrades would underestimate the children.  Tenzin might be spiritual, but he had no problem readying his kids to fight.  They could hold their own against the brothers when they worked together, though usually they used the brother’s kindness against them. 

They said they understood, Aita repeated to herself.  And she was here.  If things went wrong then it was her turn to shine, and in the long run, if they could pull it off and Aita made it seem as if the family had disappeared, then...  But things would be complicated if Tenzin wasn’t captured and made it back to his family.  Amon had at least three different plans to capture the airbender once he was in Republic City, but Tenzin was smart and crafty, and the avatar would soon be there to help him fight the equalists if it took them too long to capture him.  Aita wasn’t sure her backup plan would work in that case.  Tenzin was too spiritual, it could destroy her plan.

The zeppelin started to slow and Aita stood.  She had to trust her comrades.  The zeppelins were attacking the city, causing bombs to explode.  The council members would be captured and removed to be held until Amon could take their bending at the rally that night.  Amon was with Mr. Sato.  Gir wanted to see her, at some point, for some reason.  Luco was working on making sure the gas attack on the metalbending station went off without a hitch.  Bethai would be giving the signal for nonbenders to get to safety in the districts Amon had chosen to bomb, and rallying the moral of other nonbenders so they could overwhelm and contain benders living in mostly nonbender districts. 

Those were the big things going on.  It was a lot to keep track of, and what an equalist would be doing from moment to moment would change with each new move in this war.  It wouldn’t be another day before the general of United Forces showed up, but that didn’t mean they weren’t in for a fight, actually, the way Amon spoke, this was going to be the tricky part of their operation.  Here they had to take over the city and setup all the little traps for attackers to fall into.  Luco had worked extensively with Mr. Sato and Jiron to plan the attacks for the first navy attack, the second one, and then the land attack that should be buffered by their allies on the small and big towns that surrounded them.

The wire flew out and secured into the stones steps on the island.  Aita watched as Lee stared down and then singled for his select group of advanced chiblockers including Dou to zip line down, he followed last giving her a slight nod of his head.  Aita went last, bringing up her hood so that no one could see her mask.  She quickly headed for the trees as the second zeppelin came close enough to     attack the wire. 

Turning away from the fight she put a hand on her back and tried to settle her mind.  She carefully started to strip out of her outer clothes, trying to keep an ear out so she could figure out which side was winning, but it was hard to figure out without being able to see the fight.  She ran her fingers through her hair and tried to settle her good arm so it wouldn’t look too awkward.  The avatar would have told her friends about Spirit’s arm being broken and any other odd quirks that might help them find her.

She carefully checked the “sheathed” needles attached to her thigh.  She had gotten plenty of odd looks when she came in with a long black skirt instead of her loose pants.  Her underclothes was a model of her typical waterbending style clothing.  The shirt was normal enough, but she wore a skirt that ended just before her knees, and long socks that ended mid thigh. 

When she came to the main building she could hear the screams of Tenzin’s kids, but they didn’t sound distressed.  Aita shook her head and cursed.  Hopefully they were doing better than it sounded.  It would be humiliating for their top chi blockers to be beaten by children.  No matter how good they were.

She entered one of the side rooms and rolled her eyes.  All her comrades were out cold, including Lee and Dou, and from the dumbfounded look on ex-chief’s face, Aita was pretty sure the children had been the ones to defeat her comrades.  Aita sighed and then jumped when she heard a baby cry.  She ran to the next room and stopped.  A comrade was standing over the crib with Rohan screaming in it.  Aita’s eyes widened, and she quickly tried to calculate if holding the baby would actually do any good.  Her eyes trailed to the two women who had been watching him were sprawled unconscious on the floor.

The decision was easy.  The baby was a bender, but still innocent, and there were too many variables to be certain that the plan would work and the baby unharmed.  Plus, Aita still had her backup plan.  She Ran forward and pushed the equalist to the side.  She wondered briefly where Pema was before she picked up the baby and sprinted to the door.  Two electrified wires shot close to her as she turned the corner.  She wondered what his problem was; the electric shock could have easily killed the baby. 

Suddenly Pema appeared, seemingly out of nowhere as Aita dodged around her and toward the courtyard as the baby screamed in her arms.  Aita turned around and looked at where another of her comrades taken down with embarrassing ease.  She hoped Amon was having better luck with the city or the war was going to be over before it even began. 

“Hey,” said Milo, using airbending to show himself right in front of Aita. “It’s the dead lady.”

“Milo,” said his sister harshly.  Aita laughed and then looked over to where her brother was looking at her with shock as he helped tie up the equalist the kids had defeated with the ones the White Lotus had caught.

“Aita, how?” he asked.  Aita tried to smile sadly at him, letting her expression relax and turning to give Pema her baby. 

“I’m not dead,” she said teasingly.  Her brother blushed.  Milo just looked at her stubbornly.

“Yes you are,” he said, pointing at her with what was a snot covered finger. “We’re just supposed to say you’re healing.”

“Aita,” said a soft older voice.  Aita tensed, looking at her grandmother.  Katara was an old bender, part of an elite group ever since she was a child and made friends with the avatar.  She had known Aang, and he had probably told her a lot about the Spirit World.  If there was ever someone (beside Tenzin) who was going to call bullshit on her being able to manifest on the Island in a great time of need. “You came.”

Aita ran to the old woman and gave her a hug.

“When is Bumi coming?” Aita asked, her eyes watering in pain thankfully adding to her act. Katara shook her head.

“He wasn’t the one called,” said the old woman sadly. “But if you could visit, he’s still supposed to arrive in a couple of days as long as nothing goes wrong.”

“The baby was almost stolen by a bender.  And it looks like Amon was bold enough to send men to attack the island,” said Aita, looking over to where her comrades were slowly waking, none of them made any move to try and break out of their bonds. Aita then turned on Katara and raised an eyebrow. “And until I’m reborn, I exist in the Spirit World.”

She said, letting the “who do you think you’re fooling” go unsaid.  Katara just gave her a long smile. 

“We will persevere,” said the old woman.  Aita laughed and the girls suddenly cried out “dad” and ran toward where a flying bison was landing.  Aita came to stand next to her brother, eyes still on the bison as Tenzin flew off and the avatar and her friends were not far behind him.  Sota put an arm around her and buried his head in her shoulder.  She stocked his head as he cried. 

“You let them fight,” shouted Tenzin.  The ex chief quickly started to reassure him.  Aita turned to her brother whose hold on her was a little painful.

“Aita?” asked Bolin carefully.  He didn’t run and sweep Aita into a hug with Sota.  Instead he seemed confused and hesitant, which made sense.  Though, that made sense.

“Hello Bolin, I’m here, for a little while at least,” said Aita, petting her brother as he squeezed a little too tightly. 

“So you didn’t…” Asami looked away.  Aita tried to walk to the nonbender, but Sota held her too tightly.

“It wasn’t your fault.  I had to save him,” said Aita to Asami.  Her brother looked at her.  Aita was pretty sure she’d said it right.  She had said it truthfully.  If she had died, it really hadn’t been Asami’s fault.  The girl couldn’t have stopped her if she tried.   Sota looked up in Aita’s eyes, and Aita thought dead/spirit thoughts.  She and her brother had a bond of loyalty, no reading minds or telling where one another were, otherwise Aita would be in trouble. 

“You weren’t dead when he saved me,” said Sota.  Aita shook her head.

“A beam fell on me, but no, when our stepfather saved you, I wasn’t dead,” said Aita.  Sota’s hand clenched in into fists.  Aita put a hand on his shoulders.

“It’s over Sota, and you have more important things to think about at the moment.” Sota looked furious and Aita put her hands on her hips. “For one thing, I only have a couple more hours.  And you probably don’t even have that.”

“What do you mean?” Sota asked.  Aita turned to point at the equalists.  Lee was giving her an odd look.  Aita wondered briefly if he had figured it out before glancing back at her brother. “You think these are his last plan?  There’s probably more of them coming.  I think he’s planning on making the temple his new base.”

“What?” demanded the avatar.  Aita turned to her and shrugged. 

“You want to stick around here and find out what happened?  Because Republic City…” she trailed off and gave a small shrug. 

“Aita is right.  We need to get out of here.  The general will be here by tomorrow to deal with Amon,” said Tenzin. 

“I think I see more airships coming,” said Korra, looking over her shoulder.  Sota took in a deep breath and the children seemed to crowd in even closer to their father, clutching at his robes.  Aita put an arm around her brother again and brought him to her.  There were at least four coming to the island.  Two would be a backup in case the first attack didn’t work, but the other held certain prestige and ‘valuables’ that couldn’t be wasted in a fight.  Aita had already made a plan with Amon.  If the two were needed, she’d get the prisoners off the island so that the equalists could deal with the rest without risking killing or damaging them.  That would also help breakup the forces incase Tenzin had slipped Amon’s net.

Now all she had to do was hope that running away was part of her plan, and Aita could influence at least the targets onto one of the flying bison.

“What are you going to do Tenzin?” asked Korra.  Tenzin sighed before his expression became resolute.

“I need to get my children as far away from here as possible,” he said and turned to the ex chief. “If Amon got his hands on my children… I hate to even think of it.”

Aita resisted the urge to roll her eyes.  He’d take the kids bending from them.  He wouldn’t do worse, not while they were still children and there was still a chance that they could learn right from wrong.  They were a bit spoiled, though, and the ability to airbend had definitely colored their attitude and sense of self, and not in any good way. 

“If you’re leaving than I’m going with you,” said Beifong, quickly holding her hand up and continuing to speak over any objections Tenzin might have. “No arguments, you and you’re family are the last airbenders, and there’s no way in the world I’m letting Amon take your bending away.”

“Thank you Lin,” said Tenzin.  Aita smiled.  Well, the ex chief would be a bit of a hassle, but things seemed to be progressing smoothly. “Korra I want you to leave this island and hide for the time being.”

“I’m not giving up,” said Korra.  Aita almost wanted to laugh.  The girl was too strong headed sometimes. 

“I’m not asking you to,” said Tenzin reassuringly. “The United Forces will be here tomorrow.  An attack will be more effective if done at once.  Strategize.  With these reinforcements we can turn the tide in this war.”

“What you’re saying is we have to be patient,” said Korra with a sour look.  Sato hiccupped a laugh into Aita’s shoulder.  Her brother seemed to have the same basic grasp of Korra’s pigheadedness as the rest of the crew.  But Tenzin’s plan would make sense.  Well, if they had all the facts it might have actually turned the tide in the war.  Instead, they were making it easier to make Amon’s first “attack” on benders all the more humiliating and detrimental to the bending community.  Aita glanced over at her equalist comrades, obviously Tenzin though he wasn’t saying anything that Amon didn’t already know. 

“You’re learning well,” said Tenzin.  This time Aita couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Korra smiled and then looked at Katara. “You should take Katara with you.  She might seem old, but she packs quite the wallop.”

Aita wanted to punch Korra at that point.  Lin Beifong would be hard enough.  The old waterbending master was dangerous to Aita in two ways.  Not only was she a bender, she was also a healer, and the most likely to notice that Aita was hurt.  Aita seriously didn’t think she could say her spirit had been hurt by something in the spirit world the same way a body got hurt.  Especially when she had the same broken arm as Spirit. 

They setup two different bisons.  One for the general staff.  One for the rest of them.  Sota still thought he was going with the avatar, but Aita already knew that she had a supporter in both her grandmother and Lin.  The avatar hugged Tenzin and Aita met the ex chief’s eyes and titled her head toward her brother.  The woman sighed and nodded.

“Tenzin, if we’re leaving, we better do it now,” Beifong demanded and then turned to look at Sota. “You too boy.”

“What?” Sota demanded.  He turned to Aita who just raised an eyebrow.  He then turned to the avatar and her friends. “I want to help you fight.”

Korra walked over to him and clasped his shoulder. “You’re an airbender Sota; we can’t risk Amon taking your bending.”

Sota shook his head. Aita almost felt bad.  But once her brother was captured, he would be safer.  No more chances that an equalist could seriously hurt or kill him, and she’d finally be able to make him right. 

“You’re sister will go with you.  For as long as she can,” said Asami, giving Aita a small smile.  Aita nodded and Sota held on closer to Aita.

“Try to come when Bumi visits,” said Bolin, giving her a wide smile.  Aita shrugged.

“The only reason I was able to manifest this way today was because the temple is so close to the Spirit World and your families great need,” said Aita.

“Believe me, I think we’ll be able to summon a great need of some kind.  At least Bumi,” said Korra.  She gave Aita a little hug and then Sota flew both of them onto the flying bison.  With a call of “yip yip” they were flying, two zeppelins close behind.  Aita glanced to see them, a third close on its tail.  The city must have already been captured.  Seemed the benders hadn’t put up too much of a fight. 

Aita held her brother close. “How long do you have?” he asked as Tenzin flipped the reins for the flying bison to go faster.

“I don’t know.  I thought that I would be gone as soon as we passed by the Air Temples boundaries but I seem to be holding up okay.” Sota held her closer.

“I love you sis,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” she said back, kissing the top of his head as she held him close. 

The zeppelin sent out a net that Lin easily deflected with her own metal wires.  Aita watched with half an eye.  Ready to move it the whiplash came close to them.  The ex chief stood and looked at all of them.  Everyone seemed to be in groups of cuddles, fear painting their faces.  Aita felt bad for the children.

“Whatever happens to me, don’t turn back,” said Lin with conviction.  Korra sucked in a quick breath as she held her grandchildren to her.  The two girls almost whimpering. 

“Lin what are you doing?” demanded Tenzin, but Lin ran past Sota and Aita, down the flying bisons back and tail until she looked as if she were trying to fly.  Aita heard Sota’s breath catch in his throat.  Aita reached and untied the ribbon she’d tied around her neck and brought him far enough away from her so he could get a good look at it.

“Here, I think you can…” but the wind caught the ribbon in Aita’s weak grasp, and the cloth flew up into the air.  Thankfully Sota wasn’t fast enough to catch it.  “Or not.”

Sota let loose a sob, burying his face in her chest, and Aita held him tighter.  A moment later an explosion had one of the zeppelins sinking.  Probably something Lin did.  Aita saw a small form jump across the gap and land.  She started to sweat a little as she realized the zeppelin left was still trying to gain on them.  Which, if one woman could take down the first so quickly, what hope did they have against two masters even if they were prepared.  Katara probably had something planned in case one of them got too close. 

And then it turned away.  Aita sighed out in relief lightly and then chuckled kindly as the little boy called the metalbending chief his hero.  Though when Tenzin repeated the sentiment, she nodded as if in agreement, all her attention still focused on her brother. The flew up toward the sky. 

She waited a couple of seconds.  There seemed a general ease.  Aita just held on to her brother.  These were her last seconds.  As soon as she went through with this, her brother would hate her.  They would never have the working, trusting situation they had.  And there was a chance he would hate her for the rest of their eyes. 

Aita reached in and redistributed the pins in the slots she had on her shirt sleeves.  Katara was giving her an odd look, her eyes on Aita’s broken arm.  Aita didn’t know if the old waterbender had figured it out, but with so many clouds around her, she didn’t dare wait.

With the flat of her hand she incapacitated her brother and then threw one needle so it hit the old woman in the neck.  Aita then quickly took care of the girls who charged her.  Meelo was a little harder.  He wasn’t quite the thinking type, and his blast of air didn’t discriminate against the people he was trying to help.  Aita finally got him pinned, but immediately had his father to contend with.  Tenzin wasn’t using his airbending.  Aita was sure that he could control it well enough to keep it from hurting his family.  But, he wasn’t as dismissive as Aita.  He probably did think of her as family, and now that she had come back from the dead, he wasn’t about to kill her again.

Tenzin eventually sunk to his knees.  The paralyzer kicking in and in seconds he would be unconscious.  Aita caught him and lowered him to the ground.  Aita straightened, turning her attention to Pema and the body.  She took a couple of steps across saddle.  She sat in front of Pema, who whimpered in fear.  Aita shifted a needle in her fingers and held out her good arm.  Pema looked from her, to her baby.  She didn’t want to let go, but there wasn’t much options unless she wanted to chance the baby falling off onto the ground below.  Aita took the baby carefully; he only made a little cry when transferred before falling back asleep.  It was easy enough to prick her with the needle then.

It wasn’t a problem to turn the bison around.  They weren’t heading back to the temple. Amon wanted the families capture to be as quiet as possible.  Something to throw the avatar off kilter when she crashed the rally two days from now. 

Aita kept half an eye on the children.  She couldn’t hit them with her pins.  She probably should have asked Styles for something safe for children.  At worse, she still had four pins she was now transferring back to the sheaths on the inside of her thigh. 

As she came in for land strip they had agreed on, Aita lowered the flying bison a little.  So that people on their airstrip didn’t see them, as this was an open area next to the airstrip.  The baby wiggled and gave a little cry.  Aita huffed in annoyance and bounced it a little. 

And then a blast of air hit her.  Aita cursed and held tight to the baby and the reigns, and there was a good chance that if she was thrown off, the baby wasn’t going to last.  She gave the flying bison a signal for him to descend and slipped down the bison’s head as she tried to push the cloth around so when she fell off he would be okay.  Another blast of air pushed her to the flying bison’s nose.  The baby wailed and Aita heard her brother gasp.  Aita sighed in relief.  They were close to the ground anyway.  The equalist wires wrapped around the flying bison’s legs and the beast wailed.

This time the blast of air did throw her from the bison.  Aita held the baby close to her.  These clothes were too tight to form a perfect way to hold a baby.  And she couldn’t hold a baby and the reins at the same time.  Another shot of air sent her sideways.  Aita curved around the baby, her body curling around to take the brunt of the fall.  She shirted across the abandoned airfield.  This one had turned out too small for the planes to take off, and a small mountain was in the way of connecting it to the bigger field. 

Aita ended up near someone’s feet.  As she stood, she turned and shoved the baby into what turned out to be Mr. Sota’s arms.  She ran forward and met her brother head on.  He attacked with airbending and she jumped away from him similarly.  She grabbed his arm and tried to toss him up, but he flew out of her hands.  Aita cursed and took an earth bending stance so she didn’t fly too far, and she still had her feet under her when she finished the move. 

The next attack came down hard, but Aita crossed her arms, and then struck out, ignoring the pain, so she hit him once in the junction in her elbows.  She then hit his legs out from under him and attacked the nerves keeping him standing.  Her brother looked up at her, shocked.  She looked down on him with disappointment.  He should have known he couldn’t beat her.  It didn’t matter if he got a master teacher, she was still the one who taught him first and knew him best.  He might not be able to read her, and know where she was or if she was in trouble.  But Sota was an open book to her.

“Why?  How could you do this?” asked Sota as Aita attacked the last chi point on his arm. “You’re connected to the Spirit World.  How could you side with Amon?  How could you turn on your family?”

“You are my only family,” Aita said firmly, as she adjusted her grip on her brother’s clothes. “And I won’t let this corrupt you anymore.  You’re why I’m doing this.  I couldn’t let bending continue to take my brother away from me.”

“Hypocrite,” said Sota.  Aita nodded, wiping at the tears that started to roll down his cheeks.  He turned away from her.  Aita turned him back to her, put two fingers on his forehead as tears started to stream down his face. “Please.”

Sota fell to the ground, collapsing into unconsciousness.  Aita caught him and slowly lowered him to the ground.  Aita barely paid attention to the approaching equalists. 

“The person you wanted to save,” said Amon.  Aita straightened and looked to him.  Ignoring the equalists now carting him away.

“Sorry, I know you wanted to take all the airbenders powers,” said Aita.  She took back the baby, who was positively squalling by then.  Aita bounced it a little, willing any womanly, maternal thing to enter her body and make holding the baby natural.  Mr. Sato seemed to overcome his shock and took the baby.  He headed away to talk to one of the equalists.  Aita turned back to Amon. “You will protect him, right?”

“And yourself?” asked Amon.  Aita shrugged. 

“I never expected to live long after I was unmasked.  These are all equalists you trust to hold your confidence, only way to insure your plans go off without a hitch,” said Aita with a shrug.  Amon looked at her in confusion and Aita looked away.  “You can’t cure me Amon.  Luco pointed out that the same movement and concentration I put into taking bending, is the one I use when I need to get my mind back in control and when I come back from the Spirit World.  The only reason I stayed in the Real World is because I was determined to get back to the Real World and my brother, and the fact the Spirit World has more similarities to reality than whatever the consciousness of water is.”

Amon put a hand on her chin and lifted her face so he was looking at her.  Aita carefully raised her eyes until she was looking him in the eyes.  Suddenly she found herself in her arms before she was pushed away.  She looked at him in confusion, not sure what she could expect. 

“We’ll find it.  I’m not going to lose one of my best operatives over this,” said Amon as he looked her in the eyes. “You’re going to be fine.  As soon as this is over and we have Republic City I will do all I can to give you the means you will need to find the cure for those like you.”

Aita put a hand on his arm.  Amon almost seemed happy that she was rooted. Suddenly Amon laughed and picked her up in his arms as he spun her. 

“This explains so much,” he said, and then his body shifted, something more aggressive in his stance. “I think, as long as he isn’t dead.  I can arrange for you to take care of one specific fire bender.  If I’m remembering the files correctly.”

Aita stared at him in confusion before she realized what he said.  She squealed in delight. If there was one fantasy she had left, it was that she got to be the one to take her stepfather’s bending.  She threw herself on Amon and planted a kiss on his mask.  She laughed and spun away from him. 

“Come on,” said Amon, catching her around her the waist. “Gir is waiting for you.  He won’t tell me about it.  I think he’s jealous I’ve keeping you to myself.  You’re even more beautiful than I imagined.”

Aita raised an eyebrow. “Weird to realize that one of the people you’d marked as a problem was the same girl you were sleeping with isn’t it?”

“We need to get you a mask,” said Amon, tracing her face. “If you’re exposed then the avatar might put together that I have the airbenders, and I want that as a surprise for my rally.  After that we can show you as my girl who not only is the face for nonbenders to look up, their inspiration, but a show of what good we can do by ridding benders.”

“First we need to cure me,” said Aita.

“I told you I’d give you the resources you needed.  Now that I now how important it is, I’ll make doubly sure,” said Amon.  Aita looked to the side.  Mr. Sato was coming back toward them, minus one baby.  He looked at her and then looked again.

“You, I saw you when the avatar visited our house,” he said and the gasped. “You were the one who warned me she heard my call.  But I didn’t…”

“Sometimes it helps to be legally insane and thought of as oddly more perceptive in unhelpful ways,” said Aita and then shrugged when both men gave her incredulous looks. “It’s what one of the people I read the future for used to say.”

Mr. Sato chuckled and shook his head.

“You’re okay girl,” he said clasping his shoulder. “We’ll find a cure.”

“For now you need to put on a standard mask until we get back to one of our safehouses,” said Amon.  Aita took the classic uniform from one of her comrades and went to go change in the abandoned building.  Her skirt wouldn’t fit under the uniform well.  Aita smiled.  The first phase of their plan worked.  Maybe it  didn’t go off without a hitch, but they had the city in their grasp, they had the avatar running, and they had their hostages/examples. 

All in all it seemed like things were finally going to turn out alright and the rein of the oppressive benders was going to come to an end. 


	19. Tahno

Hiroshi had the most boring voice.  Aita stood off to the side, listening to him.  She was planning to see Gir soon.  She hadn't made time for the torturer yet.  Her body might still  be healing, but there was so much to do.  She watched from the side as Hiroshi spoke to the assembled citizens, there were a couple of spies in the audience looking for any rebels, but they were all spread so thin at the moment that it was doubtful any rebels would be found.  There were still pockets of resistance in the city, and the avatar was still at large, probably leading the largest of the groups. Amon might want Korra free, but it also meant that there were more chances for unplanned attacks and other complications. 

Aita leaned against the stage, technically she was supposed to be making sure Hiroshi was safe and to protect him, but she was pretty sure Lee had told her to watch the old inventor to give her a break and because Lee was still shell-shocked after finding out who Aita really was. 

The interrogation/debriefing had taken a long time.  Aita felt worn down, but she was grateful that Amon hadn't dragged her to Gir to get interrogated, she doubted she would have kept her mind in the material world.  Instead she was interrogated by one of Rat's or Lee's men, while Amon, Luco, and Lee came in and out of the room to listen at random.  They had talked openly in front of her about the strategy for taking out the fleet that was coming.  The mines and the planes that would take them out. 

Aita thought that either showed what faith they had in her and their belief she could be cured or that she wasn't making it out of the building alive.  Aita had finally, what felt like days later, been allowed to rest and see her rooted charges.  No one but the people allowed in the room appeared to know her identity, and the only person who cared was Lee.  Mostly because he was pissed she had been having him on all this time.

When Aita had left the room, she had gone to see Amon, but he was just taking the benders power.  She had joined him for a while, Luco coming to stand next to her as Lee stood by Amon.  But Luco had obviously been advised to watch her for signs of fatigue because as soon as her headaches started to get bad, he had led her away and given her tea.

Not too much of a problem, Amon kept saying they were taking away impurities.  While Aita agreed with the sentiment, Aita felt he was going about it wrong.  The language felt wrong.  But, Amon had taken the upper hand and the only benders left were either in captivity or in hiding.  So perhaps he was using the correct terminology for his audience.

Now Aita waited for the navy to arrive. 

"Finally," Aita sighed as the boring speech petered out.  The only reason Hiroshi was speaking was because Amon was determined to go on for as long as he could taking every bender's power. 

Aita slipped away with the cheers, noticing other masked equalists doing so also, getting into position to protect Hiroshi from any rebel benders taking him out.  Though the purpose of this speech was twofold, one to inspiring those citizens loyal to Amon and also to draw out benders and capture them for Amon. 

Now it was time for Spirit to face Gir.  Aita shivered, Gir was so creepy. 

The man's base of operations was deep in the hub of the town, where all the shops were held and did business.  Aita hoped to see Tarlock before she saw Gir.  She couldn't explain, which was part of the reason Amon had turned her down.  He wanted to keep his brother as secret as possible.  Still, it seemed important to Aita that she see him before she saw Gir.  It was an itch, something Aita felt the Spirit World was trying to warn her about.  Aita had briefly wondered about telling Amon, but had decided against it.  Getting information from the Spirit World was almost as bad as bending.  It was better not to shove it in his face.  Better to pretend she didn't pay attention to anything that happened in the Spirit World, despite the fact that even with her mind clear, the Spirit World was constantly influencing and speaking to her. 

Gir's base of operations was under a bakery, which when an equalist learned this fact, caused one of two reactions.  Either they were too grossed out to ever eat in the vicinity again, or the bakery became their favorite place to go because apparently the thought that maybe Gir was crazy enough to cook human flesh into pastries.  Aita tended to avoid the place unless she was inviting someone to come eat with her.  This had been one of her favorite spots to needle her brother into taking Mako and Bolin into.  It helped that they served great coffee as the doubled as a cafe.

The winding stairs were very intimidating, in most instances.  Even Equalists were nervous when they walked down the loose metal stairs.  They went down down down as the metal railings shook.  The atmosphere was wet and depressing, mold grew everywhere and the light shown sparsely around the long steps down to the torture area.  Aita had brought a couple of prisoners down to Gir.  She had always wanted to ask what they thought of the smell change.  At first, blindfolded and scared or defiant, they were lead through a space that smelled like baking bread and sweet rolls, then as they went further down the smell slowly dissipated and was then slowly replaced with the smell of blood, urine, and feces.  Aita always wanted to know if the effect was creepy or comical.

However, Aita never had a chance to ask.  And now, when alone, she tended to treat it like a ride.  She slid down the banister with a yip and a holler, a practice Gir encouraged her to do.  Apparently someone cheering all the way down the stairs, dressed like the girl Amon and acting like a nut as she slid down the banister made the prisoners very nervous. 

Gir was securing chains on the arms of a thin young man.  He was in a molding prisoner outfit, with various open wounds, and though the cuts were small, they had begun to fester in the horrible dirty and wet environment.  Aita was sure that there was at least one solid layer of blood across the floor. 

"Took you long enough," growled Gir, not turning around.  Not that there was any doubt who she was. "I got him all setup for you."

"Why am I here?" asked Aita, as she looked at the young man.  He looked familiar, but Aita was sure that she had never seen anyone with such a tangled aura. 

"He was your idea," said Gir, turning to glare at Aita.  Aita folded her arms and looked back... oh. "I insisted it be you who listen to him.  Amon would probably kill the boy outright if he heard this, but I find that sometimes the most potent information comes from the mouth of those driven insane by my methods."

"You weren't able to convert him?" asked Aita.  Still, Aita wasn't surprised.  Gir was more known for his ability to extract information and break benders then to actually convert them. 

"Well, boy, tell her about your loyalty," said Gir, nudging Tahno in the shoulder with the tip of his boot.  Aita didn't see any of the boy from what once was.  She didn't see the cockiness in him from before or the desperation from when he tried to kill himself. 

At first he didn't seem to respond to Gir's prod and then, his head snapped up and he met Aita's gaze without flinching.

"Spirit," he whispered and then a manic grin spread across his face and his arms strained against the manacles on his wrists.  They were already rubbed raw and trickling blood. "I swear, I've changed.  Bending is evil, and I want to help get rid of it.  Give me back my bending and I swear that I will only use it to rid the world of bending."

Aita stepped toward him, careful to keep out of his reach. 

"How do you think that giving back your water bending will show your support?" asked Aita.  Instead of answering, Tahno just smiled wider and started nodding.

"Exactly.  I'm perfect as a water bender right?  I promise.  I will help.  I just want to help," said Tahno.  Aita backed up and looked over at Gir.

"As I said, he flipped his lid," said Gir.  Aita lifted an eyebrow and then looked back at Tahno.  Sweat dripped down the former waterbender's forehead. "The interesting part is that he's completely himself. He's not the least bit interested in actually joining Amon's cause, he's just saying all this because he thinks that what we want to hear."

Aita nodded.  Tahno was slowly forgetting his smile as he looked between the strange girl who had captured him and the person who had been doing... something for the last month or so.  Aita was pretty sure it had been that long.  It felt like it had been years since that faithful night at the probending arena. 

"Well, miss?" asked Gir.  Aita shrugged.

"I have no idea.  I'll meditate on it later," said Aita. "I guess you weren't able to reform him?"

"No, unfortunately, but if we take this city I've know a chit that'll join us once the city officially taken.  Should be after the navy fails," said Gir. "She's must better at this whole subversion thing.  I just wheedle out information. Still, if there's anyone who can answer your questions it's Spirit."

"I'll try," said Aita looking down at Tahno. "I suppose you should keep him until your lady friend can join us."

"No, please, you'll see I'll be..." Aita turned on her back on Tahno and started walking back toward the stairs.  What a waste of time.

"Spirit, please reflect on what Tahno has said.  I've been trained to hear things like these in prisoners.  He might be a bit cracked, but there's something in what he's saying.  I know he is trying to say something," said Gir, looking at the pathetic used to be water bender. 

"Well, clean his wounds," said Aita with a sigh. "If I think I have something, I'll tell you."

Aita headed back up the steps, she briefly looked behind her.  The spirits around Tahno twisted still.  And Aita sighed.  She walked back over to where Gir was starting to bundle Tahno back up.  Aita reached over and drew one of the creatures to her.  For a moment she almost slipped, almost let her mind fall into the Spirit World before she pulled herself back. 

The torturer gave her an odd look, but Aita  turned her back on him without explanation.  If there was one agreement among those who knew Aita's secret, it was not to tell anyone until they had a cure. 

By the time Aita was back in their current residence, someone had somehow convinced Amon to stop removing bending.  Well, after a day of Aita wandering about the city trying to sniff out the avatar or other rebels, even Spirit had returned around midnight.  Lee took them to their room where Luco was there along with Bethai.  Aita took her food and sat on the desk, her legs swinging as Bethai harassed Amon.  Luco reached over and snatched the mask from Aita's head.  Aita allowed him and then looked over at Bethai.  The old woman pretended she didn't notice and left without even commenting on it. 

Actually no one did, not even Amon.  Aita decided to let it go.  Bethai made sense as someone who needed to know.  If Aita's identity was revealed before they wanted it to, then Bethai would have to have come up with something that didn't utterly ruin Amon. Though Spirit was someone for the general masses.  Spirit was someone who was there for the hardcore nonbenders who choose to give their lives to the cause. 

Spirit was the assassin, the thief, and generally did things that most normal citizens would have problems dealing with.  It was one thing to hear something, especially when Amon was beginning his overthrow.  It was another to meet the person who did the more sordid deeds Amon needed done.  Better to pretend that Amon's entire organization was like Amon, strong, misunderstood, and moral. 

Aita ended up curling in bed, Amon joining her later.  It took Aita along time to fall asleep.  Eventually she just secured her mask and tried to clear her mind.  She might be used to not getting as much sleep as a normal human, but she did need sleep.  The spirit Aita had taken from Tahno hadn't moved it since she had taken it, so Aita had nothing to worry about there.  She would meditate on it when she had time. 

When Aita woke up it was to the sensation of something resting on her neck.  Aita's eyes slowly fluttered open, as the other hand traced along her shoulders and across her collar bones. 

"Good morning," said Aita sleepy, reaching up to run a hand along his mask.  She smiled sleepily before she leaned forward intent on a snuggle or a kiss.  Amon just sighed and rolled out of bed.  Aita sighed and shook her head.  Amon hadn't been distant lately, but it was hard to tell it that was because he didn't trust her now that he knew who she was, or because there was so much to do now that they had taken control of the city. 

"You should rest today Spirit.  There's not much to do today," said Amon.  Aita chuckled.

"No, just the navy coming," Aita teased.  Amon gave her a look and Aita rolled her eyes. "I know.  I don't know how to fly those planes and my arm is broken anyway."

Aita couldn't imagine what Amon would think of her sliding down the stairs the other night. 

"Amon, are you really alright?" asked Aita, hesitantly when he turned to leave.  Amon hesitated before looking back at her. His expression looked a little confused behind his mask. "I mean, that I'm rooted.  I taught you how to take bending, and it wasn't from the most reputable source."

"How do you mean it wasn't reputable?" asked Amon, his voice hard.  Aita found herself withdrawing inward.

"It was from the spirit world.  I mean, speaking to spirits isn't exactly too far a step in people's mind from bending," said Aita.  Then laughed.

"I have nothing against the spirits," said Amon carefully, his voice becoming gentler. "Why else would I name my favorite girl after them?  But why are you so resistant to it?  This ability you have, it isn't at all like bending, the more I hear about it.  You aren't connected to your element,  you're connected to the spirit world.  What better way to prove that the spirits support us?  To our cause we have the girl who is even more connected and a part of the spirit world than the avatar.  Why are you so reluctant to embrace that part of yourself.  Unless you're connected to water.  I never did ask you how you got out of the spirit world."

"Not by connecting to my element," said Aita with a laugh. "I couldn't waterbend any better than your normal rooted idiot.  I got lucky.  My mind was lost in the spirit world, instead of in the element my bending was supposed to be.  Since this world and the spirit world are parallels of each other, all I have to do is enter the world as a spirit might.  I used a tree for the most part, and then I just sort of possessed my own body.  To stay in this world takes constant concentration."

"So you hate being connected to the spirit world..."

"Because I can't be with the people who matter.  I have to be on my toes, and I'm constantly using my connection without thinking," said Aita. "I hate it because I feel like a hypocrite and I can't even save myself because my technique doesn't work on people like me."

"What if, instead of finding a way to take bending, you freed your own?" asked Amon.  Aita found herself taking steps away from him, shaking her head.

"That would be worse," she said.  Amon looked at her and seemed to be raising an eyebrow and she took a deep breath in. "I mean it when I say bending is evil and it corrupts.  It's not just because I've been abused.  I can see into people's past, and while there might have been some decent benders, for the most part, even in small ways, they abuse and suppress those without bending."

"But you would be the one with bending," Amon pointed out.

"Yeah, people can say what they want about past lives not being you.  But all past lives have a certain, taste to them.  A pattern, a something that makes a soul distinct.  I can see them," said Aita she sighed and looked up at Amon. "Not even you are free of it, but as for myself.  If for some reason I was granted my waterbending back.  I would go into the spirit world and never return not even for you."

"And if you lost the ability to go to the spirit world?" asked Amon.  Aita smiled shakily.

"Then I would slit my own throat," Aita said plainly.  Amon quickly covered the ground to them. Aita felt herself tense as Amon took her by her elbows and then allowed herself a little smile as Amon removed her mask. "It's not because I'm noble Amon.  It's because I know how easily I can be corrupted."

"And how do you know that's not what I love about you?" said Amon.   His face just centimeters from her own.  Aita smiled, giggled and helped remove Amon's mask. 

They spent the time in bed and then Amon went off to oversee the attack.  Aita rolled around the spirit around her arm before she fell back asleep.  It was so hard these days to tell if the people she had known and built a relationship she had now.  Aita understood it, she just didn't like it.  It was ironic in some ways.  When Aita had been just Spirit, she had easily blended in.  Oddly enough her position as Amon's sidekick had been her saving grace.  While it caused some confusion and questions, overall it did hide her identity.  The thing was, The revolution was full of people that hid their identities, if just behind handkerchiefs and goggles. 

Aita sighed as the spirit pulled at her arm.  First she needed to go and see the other rooted kids.  It was amazing how many parents really clung onto Amon's promises once he said he could find a way to unroot them.  Even ones she had known to support the benders turn to supporting Amon just for the children.  It was very heartening.  Some people had come from other cities,  sneaking in to help find that cure. 

When she finally returned she found that Amon had come in the middle of the day and was spending the night playing devising tactics to find the Admiral Iroh.  Apparently his body hadn't been found in the wreckage.  Since the avatar had showed up in the fight it was believed that she had something to do with his disappearance. 

Well, now that was Amon was busy, and Aita really didn't want to sleep by herself, she instead concentrated on the spirit.  The thing had gotten impatient with her.  With Tahno it had the perfect sort of breaking mind to leech on and feed his mind.  It probably also helped him, taking his mind away from the pain.  Though it was probably what drove him over the edge too.  Not that Gir didn't have his own hand in it, but Tahno was speaking, if not with complete sense.  Most of Gir's subjects turned really passive or really aggressive and made little sense even to themselves. 

Aita slowed her breathing and concentrated on getting her body comfortable and let her mind wander without letting it completely go.  Her mind wandered and Aita let go of the spirit.  The spirit seemed surprised about it, freezing and seeming to look over at her.  Then it twisted around her.  Aita sent an idea, she was interested in knowing where Tahno had gotten the idea that he could convince Spirit to give him his bending back so he could join them. 

The spirit seemed to encase her head and then it was dragging her away. There was a moment where the pull made her realize that she would have to leave her body and the material world.  It was so easy to choose, she let it go fast. 

The spirit continued to pull Aita away, and Aita felt her flying through the sky and into the north pole.  There it dragged her into some pool and Aita felt herself twisting and pulling.  The tide, she could feel the tide. 

What was going on?  Had Aita miscalculated.  There was a chance that the spirit hadn't brought her to Tahno's base of madness.  There was a chance that Tahno had just made it up himself.  In that case the spirit could have taken Aita to her madness.  Was it possible that Aita had allowed herself to be pulled into the pull of the water afterall and she was to be a true rooted?  What would that mean to Amon?  Would there be any difference?

Aita found herself freaking out, and then pushed the feeling away.  No, she wouldn't let the tide take her.  She hadn't before, and she wouldn't now.  She would find herself out of the this water.  She would drag herself out of this water.  Who knew, maybe it would answer how to cure those that were rooted. 

Aita fought against the tide, but it pulled ruthlessly against her.  No matter how Aita fought, the tide continued to pull at her, no matter how hard she fought, she continued to be pulled with the tide.  Aita sighed and turned away. 

The tide tugged and pulled, and something called to.  It wasn't just this pool of twisting water.  Aita broke free, the cool water sank into her skin and Aita realized there was more than the twisting vortex and in moments Aita had broken free of the pulling tide and into calmer water.  There she was sure she could find away to free herself, or at least be able to think, with the raging water constantly pulling at her she had no room to think. 

When she broke into the calmer water, it washed over her and helped calm her frazzled nerves.  The rocking motion of the cool, calm water instantly soothed Aita's mind.  She found herself taking a deep breath in and then letting it roll through her body.  Another one in.  It was like meditation.  It was soothing, like when she meditated, a complete focus just on experiencing her breath and letting her mind focus and refine itself to a single task. 

It took Aita too long to figure out that she had stopped thinking, that somehow in this calm she had let herself almost become a part of the water and the flow.  Aita closed her eyes, tried to feel herself as a separate being from the water and not just another part of it. But soon her breathes were sending her toes and fingers across distant shores and Aita found herself trying to pull herself completely into the whirl pool.  Fear ripped through her as she spun around and around.  If she actually found herself calming down then would that mean she was coming into herself or spreading out to encompass the world.

No, she could control this.  She was Aita.  Maybe she was rooted, but she was not rooted to the water.  Water was a tool to be used.  And if anything she learned from the Spirit World, it was how to take control of her own mind.  And while she might not have any ability to wield the creatures and energy of the Spirit beyond the limitation of a normal spirit, she was supposed to be a water bender. 

Aita took a deep breath in through her nose, closing her eyes and drawing in all her will as the water spun her faster and faster down and then she grabbed that power, that control, firmly, and resolutely.  The water was not her master, she was its master. She touched her fingers to her head then drew her hand away, telling the water to gather at the tips of her fingers even as the water demanded she give in and join its course.  She fought, and then like a click in her mind she found the will.

Finally Aita's eyes snapped open and she found herself standing as if ready to fight in her and Amon's room where the morning sunlight trickled in through the boarded up window.  Aita felt her breath coming faster and beads of sweat starting to form on her brow, and then forced herself to relax, her muscles loosening and a sickening crash of water falling to the floor.

Aita stared at it for a moment, her mind seemed oddly blank. She found herself reaching back and found herself falling into a classic stance to begin water bending.  Aita didn't watch what she was doing before she threw her hands forward.  The water that had splashed onto the ground before freezing.   Aita felt her throat close and she stumbled backward, her empty mind picking up thoughts rapidly until she stopped the blade she had brought to her throat.

The thing about looking into future meant Aita could quickly translate information given to her.  The feeling she had when she used the bending was something she had felt before.  She was such an idiot.  She hadn't tricked the avatar into using water bending to get the ice off her hand, it had been her using bending.  The trick she had used to pull her mind from the water wasn't just a rejection, it was using the water itself in order to achieve the goal.  Aita still wasn't entirely sure how it worked, but she was able to figure out that waterbending was what gave her the ability to take bending.

Aita stopped a hysterical laugh that tried to escape her lips.  In order to take bending, you had to be a bender in the first place.  Gir was right, Tahno had been speaking the truth and had actually been one hundred percent right when he said he wanted his bending back in order to take others away. 

But Amon... Spirits, Aita had corrupted Amon.  Aita found herself backpedaling all the way to trip over and fall on her bed.  Aita had known she could teach Amon because she knew that he had waterbending in his blood even if he hadn't been a waterbender.  Of course, now he was a waterbender, and every time he used the trick to taking bending, he was blood bending, or something incredibly close to blood bending.

As Aita put her head in her hands, she reflected how stupid she had been.  She had had the ability to waterbend ever since she pulled herself from the spirit world.  And she couldn't take her own bending because... everything was so screwed up, and she needed to tell Amon.  But how could she tell Amon that she had made him the very thing he fought against.  All Amon wanted was equality, and then Aita had come along and taken that chance from him. 

But how she could tell him?  It would break his heart.  it would better to just let it go, to come up with some reason that she couldn't teach another.  Better still for her to let go now.  Aita needed to retreat to the Spirit World that one last time and never return.

No, doing this sort of thing was what screwed her over time and time again in her past lives.  She couldn't just run away from her problems or make some excuse why she was doing this.  No, for once in Aita's many lives she needed to do the right thing.  She would tell Amon what had happened and she would deal with the consequences. 

In so many cases she died so uselessly, young or old it was her own stupid fault, but at other times even when she died, it had been in horrible circumstances where she couldn't see the error of her ways when everyone else had.  Madness wasn't always a part of Aita's past, but it certainly was a theme that cropped up time and time again. 

"Spirit?" Aita's head snapped up to see Luco standing at the door.  She quickly stood tall, trying to put her revalation to the side.  She needed to tell Amon first.  He was the one who led them, he would know what to do with this new information.  Luco looked at her in concern, but shook his head, probably putting her curled up in bed shaking down to nerves.  This was a very delicate time and by being so public, Amon was putting himself in a lot of danger. "We intercepted a transmission.  We know where their planning to attack from and are sure a group is going to the airstrip soon to attack.  We need you at the rally.  No reason they might not also try to assassinate Amon when he's at the rally.  They've still got that fire bender who can use lightning."

Aita took out her knife and threw it in the air, catching it effortlessly. Luco nodded and indicated that she should leave first.  Aita sighed, catching it in her chest as she let him lead them out.  She would tell Amon, but first she had to make sure her brother's bending was gone before then.  If Amon decided to try and take his bending, or at least swear never to use waterbending again if it wasn't possible to take bending away.  Which Aita had a sneaking suspicion was the case.

Amon could hold his promise never to do bending.  He would make sure his actions reflected and were those of an equal and wouldn't succumb to the pressures of bending, he was one of those rare types of people.  Honest and true to his convictions. 

Now all Aita had to do was go to the rally make sure Amon was safe and that her brother lost his bending.  That was the only thing she had to do before she left this world for good. 

So little time, hopefully Amon wouldn't become too bogged down with the news, and there wouldn't be too much fuss over what happened to her.  Or if there was a fuss, it was useful to Amon's cause. It would turn out alright. 


End file.
